


That's Love, Liam!

by bohemu



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Movie Reference, Not Britpicked, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-17 13:11:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12366519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bohemu/pseuds/bohemu
Summary: I wrote this in 2015 at the height of my 1D fannishness based on Addicted to Love, a hella obscure 90s movie that I ADORE. The plot is a little sus for today's world, but it was perfect for Lilo and thus this happened. It's un-betaed, un-Britpicked, and self-edited because the fandom more or less died that same year. But I thought it should see the light of day in case it might bring someone else as much joy as it gave me to write it. IT HAPPENS.





	That's Love, Liam!

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for violence in the second to last scene. Also some small "no homo" remarks. The title is from my favorite scene from the movie.

Liam can tell it’s been a long day by the way he’s been staring at his cursor blinking for five minutes. He shakes his head to get back into the moment, and selects the print option from the menu. He glances at the clock. It’s almost lunch time. He stretches his arms behind him as he stands up and almost topples his office chair. He catches it with one hand and apologizes to Malik when he says “shit” out loud. Malik’s the soft alternative skater bro in the office. He’s a nice guy, but he takes his work more seriously than Liam does. That’s saying a lot, since Liam worked hard to get to where he is at Syco.

Liam grabs his traveler’s mug and walks over to the printer to get the Twitter statistics he just sent over, glancing out of the window by Andy’s cubicle. He can see Sophia’s classroom perfectly from here, and the class is on their mandatory mid-class break. Liam’s phone vibrates in his pocket and he fishes it out with his free hand.

“Why, hello! Who could this be, I wonder?” Liam says, teasing. “I don’t think I should be getting calls during work hours.”

“It’s your lunch hour, silly. Plus, I’m on break.” Liam can see Sophia’s brilliant smile through the dirty university windows and the glare of the sun on his office’s building.

“Hmm, I don’t know, you still haven’t told me what your name is,” he says, waving a finger at her. “I’m gonna have to hang up. In one, two—”

“Sophia. It’s Sophia.”

“Ah, Sophia! What a lovely name. Do you often ring strange men at their internships they’re far too old for?”

Sophia laughs at that. “Only the cute ones.”

“Well, I’m flattered but you see, I have a girlfriend already.”

“Really?” Sophia’s deadpan tone always makes Liam smile. She always humors him even when she’s long been tired of the joke. He can only see half of it with the way she’s sitting in her chair, but he knows the exact expression she’d be giving him if he were there.

“Indeed. I don’t think she’ll be too pleased to find me talking to a stranger.”

“Mmm, well, it’s your loss. If you change your mind, meet me outside your office at 5.”

“I won’t make any promises!” Liam chuckles and then lets the silence between them grow before he verbalizes his thoughts. “I love you.”

“I can’t imagine why,” she says. There’s a smile in her voice. “Love you too; see you later.”

The line goes dead and Liam pockets his phone, turning to fill his mug at the water cooler. He stuffs the printout under his arm as he walks back to his desk to mark it up before his lunch hour.

*

The day continues just as boring as the morning hours, with nothing new to add to his report. Liam spends ten minutes working on the presentation for tomorrow, twenty minutes setting up a Spotify playlist, five minutes grooving in his chair to Robert Palmer, and forty minutes on and off staring at blank Excel documents. The last two hours of the day he spends casually chatting up everyone in the kitchenette. Veronica’s crush on Marcel has blossomed even more since the guy left a dandelion on her desk. Liam pats the nerdy intern on the shoulders and tells him he couldn’t have hit a bigger jackpot than Veronica and _what are you waiting for_. Liam doesn’t understand people who can’t make their own life decisions. Or people who attempt to excuse away not dating a beauty like Veronica, who is highly regarded at Syco as the hottest woman in the offices. Harvey and Johnny grunt and say something as they bumble over to the fridge, but Liam takes that as his cue to leave and slides back on over to his desk.

Liam’s packed his backpack with his laptop, Beats, and his small moleskin at 4, and finally, at 5, it’s time to leave. When the time switches over on his desk clock, Liam bolts for the door, flying down the stairs two at a time until he gets to the revolving ground floor door. Sophia’s already standing outside waiting for him, her oversized shades like bug eyes above her nose. She’d be the sexiest beetle and Liam’s not sure how to feel about that personal revelation.

When Liam’s free of the door, he envelops Sophia in his arms, his backpack sliding down his arm and whacking her in the back.

“Sorry!” Liam says, hiking the bag up on his shoulder again. “Sorry, I’m just so happy to see you.”

Sophia shakes her head fondly and motions for Liam to follow her down the street. “You see me every day, babe.”

Liam hurries to make up the distance. “I’d see you every minute if I could.” He grabs Sophia’s hand and she rests her head as best she can on his free shoulder as they walk towards their usual park spot. There’s something about how she _isn’t_ stroking his thumb with hers as usual, that nags at Liam until he has to ask, once they sit on their bench to watch the occasional bird splash in the fountain. “What’s wrong?”

Sophia cracks a smile, then bursts out laughing loud and hard. It worries Liam more than it should. “Ohhh. You know me so well. To think I was nervous… Listen, I’ve got a great opportunity at my hands here. And you have to be completely honest with me, here. You remember that YouTube contest I was trying out for? I got it—”

“That’s fantastic!” Liam yells immediately, startling and toppling a nearby toddler trying to learn how to walk. He apologizes quickly to the mom rushing away with her screaming son before turning back to Sophia. “That’s great news, innit?”

Sophia grimaces and that’s enough for Liam to hold his breath. “It’s in New York City. For three months.”

Liam frowns. He doesn’t get it, until he does. “That’s the other side of the world.”

“For three months,” Sophia repeats. Liam nods but the processing is taking longer than it should.

“Is it at least after my internship is over? We can go together.”

“Liam,” Sophia sighs. “They’re putting me up in a dorm. The plane ticket is for one person.”

“Yeah, but there’s other tickets to New York, babe. I can ride separately. We can get a house together. You don’t have to use the rooms they give you, do you?”

“No, I don’t.” Sophia studies Liam’s face, a look of wonder spreading across her features. “Would you really spend a summer in New York with me? What would you do there?”

“Dunno. Suppose they’ve got some buildings I could check out. There’s probably some offices that need social media experts and such.”

Sophia stuffs her hand into her purse and pulls out her buzzing phone. “Wow, Liam, I didn’t expect this sort of dedication from you.” She types responses to a couple of texts and swipes away some notifications before dropping the device back into her purse and zipping it shut. She studies Liam’s face.

“I’d do anything for you,” Liam says, a hint of disappointment bleeding into the sentence when he remembers. “But there’s a huge presentation that I’m a part of, and the whole thing is dependent on my work. I can’t leave right now.” 

Liam slouches and rests his head on the stone jutting out of the bench behind him. He doesn’t want to spend three months without Sophia. They haven’t been apart since they met on the very park playground in front of them now. Liam looks down his nose to watch a three-year-old tackle her brother to the ground. “When do you leave?”

Sophia sinks down next to Liam and rests her head on his chest. “It goes from April to August. I’ll be back in time for your birthday.”

“Do you remember this playground?” New York isn’t fun. Liam wants to live in the past. When things were happy.

“Of course; we met on those swings over there,” Sophia says, pointing. The swings have been updated since, but Liam still remembers how the metal bars burned Sophia’s thighs during the summer. He always insisted she sit on his jacket in case it was particularly scalding.

Liam points at the newer gym set on the playground. “That used to be the bridge. I fell in love with you there.”

Sophia giggles. “No! When? The only time we played on that we were maybe thirteen! I was so afraid of how it shook.”

“I know.” It’s not a rebuttal, just a statement.

“Liam James Payne, you did not fall in love with me on this playground at thirteen. I barely knew you. We didn’t speak outside of this playground until high school!”

“You were the prettiest girl on the planet, even then. Still are.”

Sophia’s eyes are wet when she sits up to look at Liam. Liam gives her a wistful look. “Liam, don’t. This is good for us! We’ve never been apart, it’ll be good to get some skills. I’ll learn a bunch of things and we’ll Skype a bunch.”

“But you’re crying now, yeah?,” Liam glances up at the sky and sighs. “I’m allowed to be sad, Soph. I honestly don’t know life without you.”

Sophia wipes her eyes and sniffs, pulling out her phone again. She types a message and locks it again, squeezing the device in her hands. She takes in a huge breath and releases it before speaking. “If you tell me to stay, I’ll stay.”

Liam sits up quickly, and covers her hands and phone in his hands. He knows full well that she wants this enough to not listen. And in the back of his mind he knows it’s a great opportunity. But what comes out of his mouth is earnest. “Stay.”

Sophia is gone the weekend after.

*

Liam still continues to check the window every day, expecting to see her there, and when he passes through the revolving doors at the end of the work day, he shuts his eyes for a brief second, imagining that when they open again Sophia will be standing there, her bright smile and sophisticated fashion sense waiting for him. It never works, for all three months, but he does it daily. 

His co-workers have pity on him halfway through the summer and take him out to Funky Buddha for drinks after work. Liam settles into the booth towards the DJ booth and orders two whiskey sours.

“Can’t be sitting there all night, mate. If we were going to drink, we could’ve gone somewhere quieter,” Malik says, tapping his ear and grimacing. 

Andy shoves his hand away from Liam. “Leave him. He’s out with us for once, he can do what he wants.”

“I’m getting him on the dance floor later. Roni, you’ll dance with me, yeah?” Malik pulls Veronica out of her chair and they both merge into the sea of bodies on the floor.

*

Hours later, Liam has pinned Marcel and Malik to the bar while Andy and Veronica grind on the floor. Liam’s face is tear-stained and red, and the table is littered with rounds of pints and shot glasses.

Malik is disgusted. “It’s not like she’s finished with you? You’re crying a lot for someone who’s still bloody attached to his girl 24/7. A few hours difference is not that weird. You can do a lot of long-distance stuff these days.”

Marcel gathers the empty glasses in the corner of the table for the waitress. “It sounds to me like you should just marry her. You seem really upset at the idea of losing her.” Malik stares at Marcel from across the booth. “What?” Marcel shrugs.

“Don’t listen to him, he can barely keep up with Roni,” Malik says, gesturing out at the two grinding bodies. “Look at her out there dancing with another man while you watch.”

“Well, it’s only dancing. I’m not much of a dancer. I poked her in the eye last time. Anyway, I trusted you dancing with her earlier, too.” 

Marcel’s smile is the most innocent Liam has ever seen on an adult man, American or not. But Liam’s brain is fifty miles away, stuck on Marcel’s earlier advice.

“I’m gonna buy a ring,” Liam says, like he cured cancer.

Marcel throws up his arms in victory. But Malik whines and shouts above the crowd’s excitement at the track that the DJ just started. “No, bad idea, mate. You’re drunk and tired. It’s also almost closing. I’m calling you a taxi and we’ll see you on Monday, yeah?” Malik scrolls through his phone for the number.

Veronica and Andy stumble back to the table, frowning at the scene when they get there. “What’s this,” Veronica says, sliding herself onto Marcel’s lap. “Andy and I go dancing for a bit and you’re all on your phones?”

“Liam’s gonna ask his girlfriend to marry him!” Marcel squeals.

Liam nods and raises his phone. “Looking up the nearest jeweler right now.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” Veronica says, clasping her hands in joy.

“No, not really,” Malik says, holding his phone up to his ear and sliding out of the booth in search of a quieter place to talk. “We’re calling a cabbie and leaving.”

Andy digs in his pocket and takes out a wad of lint and crumpled bills. “I’ll leave the tip if someone’s got my ride.”

“I most certainly do not, because you’re coming with,” Liam says, thumbing through Google Image. “How’s this one, Roni?”

Veronica bends over the table to inspect the phone. “It seems simple. She might like it, but I think her taste is fancier than mine.” Marcel squeezes Veronica’s arm at that and she smiles down at him. “She is! She’s like a Vogue model, that one. Are you sure jewelers are even open this late? I’d imagine some of them are still sleeping. All those older men are never up this late.”

Liam stares at his phone a while longer before pocketing it. “You’re right. Nothing around here seems open. Gonna have to take Malik up on that ride, work on it tomorrow.”

Andy sorts his change and leaves a couple of bills flattened under some glassware before leading them all out to the street.

Malik catches Liam when he trips on his own feet. “I think I’m at yours. Make sure you’re not waking up in your own sick, like?” Malik says, a slight tinge of aggravation in his voice.

“I’m fine mate, but cheers, anyway. I can get myself to bed just fine.”

Malik insists on crashing on Liam’s sofa.

*

Liam buys a simple setting a week later, with the assistance of Veronica and Sophia’s sister Zoe. It’s emerald-shaped, a simple but large carat with a band dusted with smaller stones. He carries the box in his pajama pocket at home just to get used to the weight of it.

The rest of the summer goes well. Liam speaks to Sophia while he’s cooking dinner for himself and she’s on lunch break in NYC. It’s not quite the same as their lunch meetings in London, but it works for the time being. Liam wonders if she could be spending her lunch getting to know other YouTubers, but she never complains about spending her hour with him. They communicate through texts, but Liam stops at midnight so as not to disturb her sleep.

Four days before Liam’s birthday, he wakes to his alarm. He scampers around his house fixing all the signs of bachelorhood that the three months without her touch have made. His university friends Niall and Bressie print out a banner that says “WELCOME HOME SOPHIA” and hang it above the garage door. 

Liam’s hair is shorter on the sides than Sophia’s used to, but she always loves when he experiments with new cuts, so he styles it with some pomade and shaves with a new blade. He dresses in a new shirt, crisp jeans, and his trusty trainers. The placements at the kitchen counter are fresh and everything’s in place for his romantic night in. He drops the ring box in his jean pocket and runs out to his car.

Except when he gets outside, he only sees Zoe leaning against his Fiat.

“Zoe! What are you doing here!” Liam says, greeting her in amazement before panic sets in. “Sophia. Is Sophia okay? I didn’t get the text with her flight number,” he says, yanking his phone from his jeans and scrolling through his messages. “Is the flight delayed, did she miss it?”

Zoe reaches out to calm him, placing her hand on Liam’s forearm. “Liam! Liam, Sophia’s fine. She wanted me to tell you some things. She’s not coming back. She’s staying in New York.”

Liam almost drops his phone from shock, but manages to shove it safely back into his jeans with trembling hands. His fingers brush his front pocket where the ring is and he winces a little. “Wh—everything she knows is here?”

“Liam, she’s staying in New York because they offered her a gig. She’s gonna be one of the hosts for their new streaming event space. She’s found a flat, a roommate, and she’s got a job. And I guess university’s on hold for now, but she didn’t really say.”

Liam shakes his head. “We spoke every day. That doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t she tell me this herself?”

Zoe sighs and pulls off her sunglasses, tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “Sometimes these things are harder on the people doing the telling.”

“That’s not fair to you, then, is it?” Liam says, scratching his head in bemusement. “I need to talk to her,” he says, pulling out his phone again. “Is she up now? What time is—I’m calling her now.”

Zoe nods, scratching her own head. “Liam, it’s 6 in the am right now.”

Liam presses “END” on his phone and waggles it at Zoe. “I’m going to her. When you hear from her, let her know I’m going to track her down,” he says, rounding on the car and getting in. “You don’t throw away your entire life for a strange new city. We belong together.”

Zoe throws her arms up in frustration as Liam takes off for the airport and the next possible plane to New York City.

*

The flight is longer than he anticipated; the in-flight movie is some boring gangster movie that Malik would love, but Liam’s more interested in sleeping. There’s strong turbulence when they reach the States and Liam has a quick thought that he wants to see Sophia’s face one last time before he dies. 

He thinks to text Sophia while he waits for his baggage at the carousel, but decides a surprise would be better. She’s going to notice his radio silence after Zoe’s announcement sooner or later. He thumbs through his messages, but there’s nothing new from her. He frowns as he pockets his phone and yanks his bag off the conveyor belt.

New York is a culture shock straight out of the airport. The cabs are expensive and mysterious. The one Liam lucks out on smells like insulation foam and wooden beads, and the R&B station the cabbie is listening to plays music Liam’s never heard before. Americans have the worst taste in everything.

Liam arrives at Sophia’s apartment and the smile on his face starts to fade. What if Sophia isn’t ready to face him? She did send her sister to tell him off instead of telling him over Skype. Liam shakes his head and continues into the building. He laughs at the out of commission elevator because it reminds him of that trashy American sitcom Niall loves to watch, and lugs his suitcase up the five flights to Sophia’s door.

He can hear a high-pitched voice that isn’t Sophia’s on the other side. Must be one of her roommates. He knocks a few times to no avail. He tries the buzzer, knocks again, even tries calling Sophia. 

Liam realizes his phone is roaming and he curses himself for the overages he’s going to pay when they get back to London. He shuts his phone off and makes a mental note to get a no-contract when he can. He knocks again and that’s when the door opens. But it’s not Sophia.

“Oh, hello! Sorry, do you need help with something?” The man is lanky, with amazingly long eyelashes and a large quiff that reminds Liam of Malik’s hair a few years ago.

“I’m… sorry, I thought this was Sophia’s…?” Liam stutters.

“Oh! It is love; she’s just not in at the moment. Do you wanna come in? She should be back soon, I think she’s just down getting us our take-away.”

The word hits Liam like a bullet to the heart. In fact, he can feel his heart grow cold and his head start to spin. “Your? I… no. I’ll… come… back later,” he manages to say, and turns on his heel for the stairs.

“Oh. Do you have a name? I can just tell her to call you…?” The words trail after him as he somehow manages to not fall down the stairs to his death.

*

It never occurred to Liam that Sophia could be cheating. He assumed he’d come to New York, she’d pack up her things, and they’d go back home. Or he’d get fired for leaving without finishing the Lloyd project, and he’d move in with Sophia and they’d just live in New York until they could afford other options.

When he sets his bags back on the city street, Liam realizes he has no place to stay. Realistically, he could return to London. But he won’t give up on Sophia just yet. He needs to hear it from her. 

Liam buys a soft pretzel off a street cart and wheels his bag down a few city blocks. New York is a decent city, not quite as quaint as London, but a bit noisier. Everything has a layer of dirt and grime on it, presumably from all the traffic exhaust. There’s a small hostel the street across from Sophia’s building, but from what he remembers from their Skype sessions, Sophia’s living room window is right across from the fifth floor of this building. Liam fights with his baggage up the stairs and insists on a small room on the fifth floor facing the rear.

The room is a studio but it suits Liam just fine. He unpacks what he needs for the moment and heads back outside to a bar he saw earlier.

It’s not a large pub, but they’re showing a footie match on the large screens and that, paired with all the shouting patrons, makes Liam feel at home. He orders a pint and grabs a seat at the bar. Instead of calling Sophia Liam scrolls through his camera roll, the mental image of the Northern man at Sophia’s apartment making him feel sick. Sophia never worried for money and never seemed too concerned that Liam wasn’t making much at his job. He thought they were happy. He’d bought her a ring. Why had she been Skyping him like everything was fine when she was here with another bloke?

Drinking alone was never Liam’s strong suit; he manages to down two pints, pays, and shuffles his way out the door. As he crosses the street, he almost topples into a motorcyclist. The cyclist stops and looks back, more in aggravation than apology, before continuing on their way. Liam giggles at the sight of the short man on such a large bike, and the sparkly gold helmet that probably does more to blind other motorists than save the man’s cranium.

Liam sets out for a nearby electronics chain and buys the smallest smartphone they sell without a contract, a few DIY spy kits, a few notepads, and some pencils. He’s worked on similar marketing projects at Syco; he reckons he’s good enough at his job to use his skills to win Sophia back.

Back in his room, Liam pulls his laptop into his bed and does the bit of work that he can do before spooning half of the blanket and passing out.

He dreams of Niall and Breslin picking him and Sophia up at Heathrow. Singing loudly to Niall’s band demo tracks on the return trip. Sophia’s warm smile making Breslin’s excruciatingly exaggerated drunk singing all worth it. But Breslin’s singing turns into a drum beat and the drum beat turns into someone breaking into his room.

Liam wakes suddenly but freezes, unsure what’s safer: to warn the intruder there’s someone here or see if they leave without harming him. He makes a mental note of the most valuable things in the room and decides which are worth risking his life.

Of course the intruder immediately goes for the bag of monitoring equipment Liam had bought, which ranks third on his list.

“Excuse me,” he whispers, sitting up in bed, voice rough from sleep. The intruder ignores him. “Excuse me,” Liam repeats, rougher than before. “You’re kinda in the wrong room, mate.”

Liam’s eyes adjust enough for him to make out the sparkly helmet from earlier in the street as the man tugs it off his head. The man squints at Liam. “What’s your name?”

“Andy,” Liam lies. Being cordial with the person going through his stuff is not on his list.

“What’s your _name_ , ‘Andy’?”

“Liam.” This man is shockingly good at this.

“I need a place to stay, Liam. So I’m moving in. We can work on the arrangements tomorrow, if you want me to split the money for this… place. But,” he says, shucking off his motorcycle jacket and his cross-body bag, “I sleep in the nude. So, you can sleep wherever, but I’m taking the bed.”

Liam looks around the room before he realizes that the man means the bed he is currently in. “There’s only the one bed, mate,” he says, tapping the mattress with his hand and pulling his laptop closer. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Louis. You can call me Lou. And yes, that’s the bed I’m claiming, keep up.” Louis shrugs off his trainers and starts to undo his jeans.

“Whoa, whoa. This is not—I’m not—what’s going on? I’m just trying to get through the night, lad. I’ve got a rough day.” American draft beer is not nearly strong enough to do damage, but it was still a long day.

“Yeah?” Louis says, his voice louder this time. “You’re the one keeping us from getting more shut-eye. Come on, move over or get out. A man’s gotta get his rest.” Louis crawls into the bed near Liam. Liam, for his part, is frozen in place. Louis rips off his shirt and tosses it across the room and starts again on his pants, which makes Liam leap from the bed.

“Are you mad?” Liam says, once he’s standing at the foot of the bed looking up at the ceiling to avoid the sight of a naked man. Liam’s laptop is still somewhere near Louis’ ass but Liam decides he’d rather risk disinfecting it tomorrow than try to save it now and accidentally touch this stranger. “This is quite the trip,” Liam mumbles to himself.

Louis wiggles into the sheets and flings his pants at Liam. “Mate, keep it down, yeah?” He gestures at the love seat. “That there looks decent for a kip.”

Liam glances at the love seat and sighs. He should call the police. He should call management. But something about this man, naked and asleep in the bed Liam paid for, tells Liam that he doesn’t have to worry about being slaughtered in his sleep. Liam’s still reeling from the day—and he’s not even drunk—and if yesterday was any indication, might have lost the girl of his dreams without even knowing it. All of this can be dealt with in the morning, he decides. If he makes it to tomorrow.

Liam pads over to the window where Louis came in and locks it, along with the door and slides into the small love seat for the rest of the night.

*

Liam wakes in the morning to the sound of a kettle boiling. When he remembers that he’s not back in London, he bolts upright. Louis is across the room, cloaked in the blanket from the bed, making tea from an electric kettle.

“Morning, Liam. D’you fancy a tea?” Louis’ voice says from under the hood the blanket creates. He looks like a Jedi but sounds as cheery and familiar as Niall. Liam also notes that also has a Northern accent, but he’s not the man at Sophia’s.

“You brought a kettle with you into my room?”

“It’s not like you had one. I checked.”

“Why would you check if I had a kettle if you knew you had one yourself?”

“Because it would make it easier, Liam,” Louis says, as if the answer is obvious.

It’s not. Liam frowns and then supposes nothing about Louis so far has made sense.

“Anyway, cheers for not buggering me last night. I was proper sleepy.”

Liam rubs his eyes and clears his throat. He needs to wash his mouth and he has a crick in his neck. “You’re still in _my_ room.”

“Yeah, thanks. Don’t get any ideas tonight, either. So much as breathe in my direction and I will nail your willy to that… whatever that is.”

Liam looks over at the statue Louis is gesturing at. It’s unclear what it’s meant to be. An angel or gargoyle, maybe. Whatever it is, it wouldn’t be fun to be nail gunned to. “Got it. But listen, I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not gay. I have a girlfriend.”

Louis stirs the tea in two mugs simultaneously and makes a cheery noise. “Oh, lovely! Must be in a bit of a strop, then? If you’re out here alone.” The blanket starts to slip off of his body and he catches it around his waist.

“How do you know I’m away from home?” Liam says, and regrets it immediately.

Louis shifts his weight onto one hip and his hair flops in front of his eyes. He pushes it away as he ties a knot in the blanket. “Love, you’re a Brit in a hostel in a large American city. By yourself. Here, you could use this tea more.” Liam hesitates when presented with the tea.

“How do I know you haven’t poisoned this?” Liam says, and Louis’ eyes go wide.

“It’s a proper tea! I thought we were friends. Here,” Louis says, taking a sip of both teas. “Now if one’s been tainted, we’ll both die.”

Liam forces a smile on his face as he accepts the mug and twists it around to the side Louis didn’t drink from. Louis is insistent on getting on Liam’s good side. Whatever the reason is, it’ll present itself soon enough.

Louis shuffles over to the bed and wiggles onto the edge. “Alright,” he says, after a long sip of tea. “Here’s the deal. Your room is exactly across from my ex’s window.”

Liam spits his tea onto the carpet. Louis grimaces and moves away from the splatter. “Your ex?” Liam stands, but he trips on Louis’ sheet and fumbles backwards into his previous position. He shakily places the mug on the table next to him and stares at Louis for an answer. “Your ex lives in that building? How long have you known her? When did you meet her?” Liam’s voice rises and gets louder with each question.

Louis laughs quietly, which just makes Liam angrier. He waves away Liam’s hand that’s ready to pull them into a fist fight. “Mate, you’re barking up the wrong tree. My ex’s the man.”

Liam freezes. “The…man. Hold on, you’re gay?”

“No, no. Actually, not sure,” Louis says, quizzically. “I’m not one for labels and that. I liked his dick. It’s a nice one.”

“I don’t want to hear about the dick of the man boning my girlfriend across the street,” Liam says holding out his hands in front of himself.

“That your girl?” Louis says, standing up. “Well done, lad. She’s a looker.”

“Watch it,” Liam says. He’s not too sure why he’s still mad at Louis, but he is. “I mean, she was. I guess now she’s with your… ex? Doesn’t happen to be taking the piss, does he?”

“‘Bout his sexuality? ‘Fraid not. I mean, you don’t really talk about who else you fancy with the person you’ve been fucking.”

Liam shimmies out of the bed and walks over to the window to glance over at Sophia’s apartment. “You saw my equipment last night.”

Louis chuckles and takes another sip of his tea. “Sure, sure. Fancy bugging equipment. That for them?”

“It was supposed to be,” Liam says, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t suppose you want to be partners in breaking them up to get him back?”

Louis stands up and collects Liam’s mug from the table to place in the small sink of the kitchenette. “Is that what you’re doing?”

Liam turns away from the window at that. “Are you not?”

“I don’t want that man back. I just want him ruined. Extinguished.”

“Extinguished? I’m only looking to spy on them, if you want to murder h—”

“Technically ‘extinguished’ would be arson, Liam, but no.” Louis walks back to the window, wiping his hands on the blanket still wrapped around him. “Just, when I’m done with him he’ll be a twitching little speck of a person.”

“I don’t want that at all for Sophia. I just want to be with her.”

“That’s sweet, really, but if you’re waiting for her to leave him for you, that’s not gonna happen.” Louis gestures at Liam’s crotch. “Not sure what you’re packing there, but Nick’s hung like Godzilla. Could wipe out all of Tokyo with that thing.” Louis sits on the edge of the bed again, and Liam notices how small he looks wrapped in all that fabric.

Liam covers his crotch with his hands. “I do quite well with little Liam,” he defends, although he’s not really sure why he cares what Louis thinks. As a gay man—or whatever Louis is—he’s probably a better judge of length than Liam. But Louis isn’t going to see his dick any time soon. “I mean, it’s not little at any res—wait, are you with me in bugging their apartment?”

Louis laughs at that and lays backwards on the bed, disappearing into the rest of the blankets for a few seconds. He says something that Liam can’t hear and Liam watches as the blob of fabric wiggles around on the bed, uncertain of what Louis is doing. When Louis reappears, he chucks off the blanket and Liam yells, averting his eyes. 

“I’m decent, Liam. You can look.”

Liam uses his periphery to see that Louis is actually wearing boxers before he gives the shorter man his full attention again. Louis’ body is riddled with small doodle-like tattoos up and down his arms and some odd numbers on his chest. Liam’s never seen that many tattoos before, and Liam’s pretty sure his local salon is only running on the business they get from Malik back home.

“You have a lot of tattoos,” is all Liam can think to say.

Louis grins broadly and nods. “Yeah, yeah. True statement, that.” He claps his hands together and stands, speeding his way over to his bags. “Listen, now that we’re business partners of a sort, I need your expertise.” He pulls out a small monitor, a larger laptop, a few usb sticks, and a router. “I’m sort of a hacker. If you can get us into their apartment, I can help you hack more than just their security cameras.”

Liam scratches his head as he looks over the equipment. “This sounds like a sort of invasion of their privacy. I don’t want to spy on her, really. I just miss her.”

Louis sighs from where he’s sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Well, that’s lovely and all, but if you want to use your notes and such to get her back, you’re gonna need more, what did you call it, ‘attributes’?”

“You looked in my journal?”

“Why’s that surprise you? Only this morning you met me as I was snooping through your stuff too loudly,” Louis shrugs and goes back to digging in his bag.

Liam nods. It’s a fair point. “But you gave me tea.”

Louis scoffs. “Tea is tea, lad. You don’t sabotage a morning cuppa.”

At least he’s got some integrity. “I’m a social media maven.”

Louis pulls a face at that. “You business types and your made up titles. What the fuck’s a maven?”

“If you’ll let me finish, I’ll tell you. I pay attention to social media networks and track trends and viral instances to help predict when in a day a certain post will make the most impact.”

Louis studies Liam, his mouth hanging open in mock fascination. “So. Like… an astrologer, but even more made up?” Louis grins and goes about connecting various electronic components.

“It’s not made up, it’s real trends. I’ve not been wrong yet! In fact I need to get back to work very soon before I’m fired. But I need to make sure I’m okay with Sophia before I go.”

Louis collects a bunch of his things and sets them on the table by Liam’s bed-chair. “How long’s that going to take, then?” Liam appreciates that Louis’ been paying attention so far, when he could have been ignoring him as he set up.

“Days. Weeks, at best. I have only been here not even a day yet,” Liam says, with a nervous chuckle.

Louis scours the room looking for something else, completely ignoring Liam’s response. Louis’ face lights up when he notices the metallic rod sticking out of his motorcycle bag. He pulls it out, along with a tiny model of a Tesla coil out of his bag and rushes over to the night stand to place it there.

“What the hell is that thing for?” Liam says as Louis stands back to admire it.

“This? It’s just pretty.”

*

They spend the day buying their equipment down at a small store in the Lower East Side and plotting their revenge in Liam’s journal. Louis gets tiny microphone batteries Liam never realized existed. Manhattan is not much different from London, but it feels more conveniently packed with everything they need in a smaller walking distance. The subway system is abysmal, but Liam doesn’t notice anyone trying to defend it. Everyone’s too busy trying not to drip sweat on the person they’re sandwiched next to. Saturday night at Funky Buddha is less crowded than the 1 train during the afternoon rush hour.

Their set-up spreads out across the small hostel room, Liam’s monitors across the study desk, Louis’ bugging and hacking station overflowing from the nightstand onto the floor and his laptop perched on the side of the bed. Liam sets up some more equipment on a folding table and angles a chair into the small space between the bed and the wall. Once it’s all powered and working, it takes Louis an hour to hack into the CCTV system in Sophia’s building.

“Get in!” Louis shouts as the monitors on the table flood with images from Sophia’s apartment. The footage is grainy and the five cameras split across the 13” monitors, but Liam grins when he sets eyes on Sophia dancing as she warms a mac & cheese packet in the microwave. “Still got the touch, Liam,” Louis continues, but he’s lost Liam’s attention. “That her? Sophia?”

Liam nods absently. He’s too busy watching the screens to pay any mind to Louis. Sophia’s just as beautiful when she’s made of pixels, and a part of Liam feels guilty for the suspicious way he’s gone about getting her back. But she was the one who sent her sister to finish with him, so it’s sort of revenge. Or at least that’s what Louis had said while shopping when Liam explained his situation. He can’t say why he’s trusting Louis so much but he seems harmless and has grown strangely protective of Liam’s situation with Sophia.

“Yeah,” Liam says, dreamily, and his tone startles even himself. He looks at the floor to avoid Louis’ gaze, frowning. “She dances around the kitchen when she’s celebrating small victories,” he explains.

“And you’re upset because you don’t know, this one time?”

Liam’s brow crinkles some more. “I’m always there for her to dance with.” His voice falters at the end.

“She walked out on you, love, she’s there right now with my bloke, yeah?” Louis says, getting up.

“No, mate, don’t put yourself at my level; things are different with you and yours,” Liam calls after him as Louis makes his way to the bathroom.

Louis leans out of the bathroom door and grins. “Not trying to, just making a point. We’re in this together, yeah? You’re welcome, by the way,” he says before closing the door behind him.

Liam glances back at the monitors and blinks. He’ll have to question Louis’ motivations for all this later.

There’s a feed from the living room, the two bedrooms, the hallway outside the kitchen, and the foyer to the apartment. The kitchen is tinier than the hostel bathroom Louis is currently occupying and Liam wonders why Sophia gave up her spacious flat in London for this. A moment of dread crosses his mind that perhaps this Grimshaw is a really decent fellow, but Liam shoves it aside. He and Sophia are meant to be. Once Louis’ done with his revenge Liam will swoop in and Sophia will come back to England with him.

“Well!” Louis says, emerging from the toilet. “Liam, if you’re done masturbating to your ex’s image while crying, I say we go get us a lunch and sit down to watch the evening show. What do you say?”

“I wasn’t,” Liam defends, but he notices the smile on Louis’ face. “I’m not sad, I just want to be with her.”

Louis nods solemnly like he understands but then he bites. “Yeah, lad, you’re not helping your case. You haven’t met Nick yet. Lunch now, depression later. Come on.”

Liam giggles despite himself as he stands up from what is probably to be his bed for the rest of the ….month? season? that they’re on this job. But Liam can’t complain—having Louis around might be useful for breaking up his sadness in this strange city.

*

Lunch turns into walking around the neighborhood and being a tourist while Louis rolls his eyes at Liam’s eagerness and honesty. As they walk down a lane in Central Park, Liam confesses that his birthday is in three days and Louis freezes.

“She left you before your birthday? That’s not right at all,” Louis says, buying a soft pretzel and a funnel cake from a vendor.

Liam graciously takes the pretzel from Louis and picks at the salt crystals. “Didn’t think too much about it. The pain was too great. Losing her, I mean. 21 wasn’t as big a deal to me after losing her. Kinda forgot it was happening.”

“Twenty-one!?” Louis shrieks, scaring away some sparrows. “You’re turning twenty-one in an American city by yourself? No, no. You’re coming out with me and my mate.”

“You’ve got other friends in the city?” Liam says between bites of his pretzel.

“I do, Liam. Because I haven’t just moved here. I was only kicked out by my ex.”

“Oh, right, sorry,” Liam says. He doesn’t mean to keep reminding Louis, but the man doesn’t shy away from highlighting the end of his relationship. Liam assumes it must be tough for Louis, a breakup toxic and deep enough that Louis is hoping to exact revenge. “Why aren’t you staying with them, then?”

“Because my friends don’t conveniently live across from Nick’s apartment, Liam, try to keep up.”

Liam almost chokes on his pretzel laughing.

*

When they get back to the hostel room, Nick and Sophia are cuddled on the sofa watching a reality television show. Liam lets out a laugh and speeds over to his notebook, leaving Louis at the door with Liam’s bags of New York souvenirs. “Sophia hates it when people talk during her shows! Look at the way she’s got her shoulder squashed into his stomach. She does that when she’s being distant.”

Louis drops the bags at the door and locks it behind him. “Nick loves reality television,” he says coolly, disappearing into the kitchen cove.

“You alright, Louis?” Liam cocks his head to the side. It’s the first time they’ve seen proof of Nick’s presence in the apartment. Maybe Louis isn’t as ready as he thought he was.

“Yes, Liam,” Louis calls over, grinning.

Liam takes it at face value and goes back to scribbling in his notes.

They monitor Sophia and Nick for a whole day that way: Liam making notes and Louis making snide remarks. Liam finds himself laughing at said remarks, but his heart still hurts.

*

Louis turns out to be a bit of a gang movie aficionado.

“You haven’t seen Get Shorty? Without a doubt, one of the most brilliant heist movies ever! Plus, it’s got John Travolta. What’s better than that, really.” Louis says. He’s sat on the floor, the light from his laptop washing over his face.

“I’m more of a romantic movie man, myself, is all. I like to know there’s a happy ending.” Liam defends from the kitchen, where he’s cooking pasta and flipping through a magazine he only bought to break a bill at the store.

Louis tuts. “There’s a happy ending. Ish. I can’t believe you haven’t seen this.”

“It’s not that unusual!” Liam grins. “Have you seen any of Katherine Heigl’s movies?”

“No, you don’t learn anything from those movies. Why would I watch those?”

Liam drains the pot of water in the sink. “What do you learn from your gangster movies?”

Louis’ fingers clack along his keyboard, and he squints at the screen for a bit. “Liam have you checked the monitors since lunch?”

“No, why?” Liam says, dabbing his hands on a dish cloth. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“You learn ways of getting over on people. People’s faults and weaknesses. How you can use those to your advantage. Take Get Shorty for instance. By the end of it, they’re just slick people. You wish you could be as clever as them. Anyway, it looks like Soph’s getting home about now.”

Liam walks around Louis on the floor to the monitors and peers down at them. “She’s taking their dog out, looks like. Does Nick have a dog?”

“Pig, yeah. She’s not the brightest dog but she’s 100% pure happy. I’ve never seen a dog happier than that un’.”

Liam frowns. “Did you say the pig’s name is— the dog’s name is pig?”

“We’ve already established Nick is also not 100% there, Liam.”

Liam smiles as he makes his way back to the pasta. “This is true. We’ve both got some interesting people in our past. Anyway, this movie— tell you what. Do your illegal magic, get us a copy of these movies and we’ll make it a day. You and me and your laptop.”

Louis scrunches his nose up. “What’s the catch?”

Liam laughs. “Oh, wow, impressive. The catch is… I get to pick some of the movies.”

“That’s all well, Liam, but I’m not having Katherine Heigl anywhere near my laptop. You’ll have to find your movies on your own.”

Liam nods, serving Louis and himself steaming pasta. “Oh, I think I can do that. There’s a Best Buy not more than twenty blocks from here. They’ve got to have some of them.”

Louis chuckles and sits up to accept his dinner from Liam. “Thank you. You’ve got impressive trust in the stock of a Best Buy store in 2015. Last time I was there, couldn’t even find Susan Boyle for my Nan back home.”

*

Liam ends up finding exactly three movies: 27 Dresses, One Day, and One for the Money. Louis exclaims that One Day wasn’t part of the deal, but Liam points out the original idea was favorite movies, and One Day is Liam’s.

Louis pulls up Swordfish, Get Shorty, and Pulp Fiction. Liam comments about the language content in Pulp Fiction, but Louis reasons that they are in New York City, which is sort of the capital of rudeness. Liam concedes and throws a sheet on the bed next to Louis.

Louis looks offended. “I’ve not got the clap, Liam, you can sit in the same bed my naked cock sleeps in.”

“I don’t want anyone near my dick, I’d rather not be near anyone else’s,” Liam chuckles, hands up in defeat.

Louis wiggles closer to Liam and smiles when Liam stiffens. “You’re the one who brought romance fluff to a lad night.”

“There’s nothing wrong with romance films!” Liam says, a little louder than he wanted. “Press play, already, we’ll see who’s wrong when we’re done here.”

“Define it," Louis says, crossing his arms.

Liam reaches for the laptop but Louis nudges out of the way. “Define what?"

“Love."

“Why?"

“Because you seem really attached to the idea for someone who's just been dumped and possibly also betrayed. Define it."

Liam leans back to think of the best way to phrase it. He's always been a romantic, but he hasn't spent much time debating the concept. He gestures slowly with his hands as though he was forming the picture in the air. “I mean… I guess it's like…"

“We've got a few movies to get through, Liam."

“You wanted an answer, you'll get it! Anyway, it's like all your life you feel like you're missing someone but you don't know who they are. And when you meet them, it's not like you notice it right away but one day you realize that feeling's gone. And when they leave, if they do, and if it's the person for you, mind, then… you're just an empty container. Love… fills you up.”

Liam can sense Louis trying not to laugh. The best he manages is a smirk on the edges of his mouth and a light giggle as he speaks. “That's without a doubt straight from some greeting card pathetic someecards you saw on Facebook when you were in nappies.”

“Hey!” Liam shouts defensively. “Alright, if you think you know so much, Mr. Spy Man, have a go at it.”

Louis sits up straight, the smirk spreading into a full grin on his face. “When I was a boy, my mum had a dog. When I was about… eight, it got real poorly, so we took it to the vet. They said a maggot must have laid eggs in its arse and said there was nothing for it, the eggs were hatching already and were eventually going to eat Laddie from the inside out. 'Laddie must be put down!' my da said--plus he was an old one. But my mum said no, took Laddie home, laid the bugger on the bed, reached in its bottom, and started pulling out the maggots! It was so disgusting but she was at it all night and got every. last. one.”

Liam opens his mouth and lets the half-eaten popcorn fall back into his bowl.

“Anyway, that dog ended up outliving my dad. That's real love, Liam.”

Louis shifts back down the bed and smacks at the spacebar to start the first movie.

Despite himself Liam gets sucked into the plot of Get Shorty and loses track of time. Pulp Fiction he’s seen already, but Louis spouts off more trivia than Liam ever cared to know about it, which somehow makes it even more enjoyable. It also makes Liam feel inadequate, since he doesn’t have the same level of fondness for his trio of movies.

Liam can’t keep his enjoyment of Swordfish to himself. It’s not a good movie, but it’s so laughable, they end Louis’ portion of the night with Louis fuming and Liam with his sides hurting. “Mate, there’s no way any of that makes sense!”

“It’s a B movie, Liam, it’s not meant to be Oscar material, alright?”

Liam wipes his tears away. “How was that a serious film that someone let get made? How did Halle Berry agree to that?”

“Alright, alright, does your movies have Halle Berry’s nips? You have to give it up for the fantasy that it conjures, though. Girls and money—well, guys and money for me, but blowjobs are all the same, really.”

Liam frowns. “I thought you said you weren’t gay?”

Louis shuffles off the bed and into the bathroom. “I’m not,” he calls back, and Liam can hear his piss stream hit the toilet water. “But boobs are fun. Ever fucked a pair?”

“Of knockers?” Liam says with disgust. “Can’t say that’s my style. The main event is much more fun.”

“Are you serious?” Louis says as the toilet flushes. “Sophia’s got great tits. Are you telling me you never tried it with her?”

Liam shrugs as Louis climbs back into the bed, drying his hands on Liam’s pants. “I’d appreciate you—hey!—not referring to Sophia by her… breasts. But no. Anyway, why are you so fond of boobs? A few days ago you were waxing philosophical about Nick’s trouser snake.”

“‘Trouser snake’. Amazing. That’s a new one even for you, Liam.”

“What? It’s a word.”

“It’s a _phrase_ , yes. Anyway, let’s get back to the movies, yeah. Pass me the popcorn—oh wait, no one made any for his section of the marathon!” Louis makes a face at Liam as he scoots off the mattress to collect the bowls of popcorn Liam had insisted on earlier.

“Sorry,” Liam says, sheepishly. “If it’s any consolation, your movies are winning.”

“Didn’t need to tell me that, Liam. But thanks.” Louis launches a fistful of kernels at Liam, which land everywhere but Liam’s mouth. Liam’s only reaction is to belly laugh until Louis returns to the bed.

Across the street Nick and Sophia are having a much more intimate night. Neither one notices.

*

Buying large electronic equipment and paying for a hostel room depletes pocket money fast. 

Fortunately, Louis has a plan.

Unfortunately, Louis’ plan deviates from strictly legal means.

“What I don’t understand is why can’t you do this, Nick’s met me the one time.”

Louis places the last of their money in Liam’s pocket. “No offense, mate, but I think the face and body of someone he was intimately aware of is easier to remember than a sad jet-lagged ex of his girlfriend’s.”

Louis sends Liam out and instructs him to buy obnoxiously large Hollywood star glasses and a trilby from two different locations across town. Then, using Louis’ knowledge of Grimshaw’s daily routine, Liam nabs Nick’s phone while he waits for his Starbucks order. Liam walks casually for a block and then sprints the rest of the way home, panicked that any beat cop he crosses will somehow deport him.

When Liam arrives back at the hostel, Louis tells him there will be no police looking for him thanks to some smooth hacker skills Liam doesn’t fully follow.

Louis takes Liam out for his birthday on Nick’s dime.

The night starts at some decently lit pub on Amsterdam; pubs that look like pubs Liam knows and loves back home. He remarks on the state of his bum on the wooden benches in _The ‘Dam_ after three drinks and Louis nods politely at the waitress for their check. At the next one, Liam marvels at the lion’s head mounted on the wall and keeps shouting at the various comics-inspired art on the walls. “Which is your favorite artist?” Liam asks Louis, who is laughing too hard at Liam’s wide-eyed awe of the mod/art-deco painting of Captain America to really pay attention. They enjoy a few waters and Louis tips the waiter double out of guilt for not actually drinking anything they could pay for.

Louis directs them to a small gastropub then, and Liam plops into the first empty seat he sees, happy to get some food to settle his dizzy stomach.

“Thanks for such a great night, Lou,” Liam says, his eyes heavily lidded.

Louis waves down the bartender and orders a side of wings for both of them. “No man should ever meet adulthood in America alone.”

Liam nods, entirely too drunk for real conversation, and starts to doze off before he realizes he shouldn’t actually fall asleep at a bar. “What was your 21st like?” he says instead. Conversation will have to do.

“Well, a gentleman never tells his age, Liam. So technically, I could be younger than you.”

Liam giggles, but shakes his finger at Louis. “No! Way! …would you know all these pubs unless you came here a lot.”

Louis looks down at the table and plays with the wrapper to his straw, crinkling it into an accordion and then squishing it into a puddle left from a glass of water. “You got me there. Used to come out with Nick a lot. He bought me my first legal American drink. Had a place up by the Apollo. Nick is actually a great comedian. Tried to get into hosting there. Kinda misguided. Because… Apollo.”

“I don’t know anything about America, but isn’t that historically African-American?” Liam says, unsure if he should let on how confused he actually feels at the moment.

Louis chuckles at that. “I know.”

“Your ex isn’t black.”

“I know!” Louis takes a sip from his water.

Liam nods. He feels less confused about things. And more impressed by Nick. “That’s well misguided.”

“Well, times were rough, and he was trying anything he could find, really. Then YouTube happened.” Louis looks appalled. “Do you not know anything about Nick? On YouTube?”

“I track hits for my job but I don’t know much about… personalities? Channels? That’s Sophia’s territory. I can’t tell Glamournancy from Markiplier from Smosh from Pewpew.”

“Glamorazzi! And Pewdiepie,” Louis corrects with a chuckle. “Well, the thing with Nick—oh, look, it’s Harold.”

A tall slender man with a very busy shirt opened to his navel and tight black skinny jeans saunters into the pub behind Liam. He smiles brightly at Louis and takes a chair from an adjacent table to sit, positioning himself at the head of the table. “Hullo,” he says, waving meekly at Liam. “I hear it’s your birthday. Happy birthday.”

Liam grins, his cheeks squishing his eyes into slits. “Thanks, mate, didn’t quite catch your name? Friend of yours, Louis?”

The man shakes his head, his shoulder-length hair flying about in the burst of air from the air conditioner above the door. “I didn’t say. You can call me Harry.” He looks at Louis expectantly.

It takes a while for the moment to register on Louis’ face but then he starts. “Oh, you want your helmet, yeah? Sorry, I forgot. If you want, once we get our order out of the kitchen and into our bellies, I think we’re done for the night.”

The wings are on the table for two seconds before Liam tears into them. Harry raises his eyebrows at how fast Liam puts them away. “If this one is always this way, you sure know how to pick them,” he says at Louis.

“I just really love chicken,” Liam mumbles around chicken cartilage. “I don’t think he knew that before, though.”

Louis stares in horror at the mess Liam makes of himself. “I definitely would not have put us in this situation had I known,” Louis says, grabbing a napkin to clean Liam’s cheeks. “And, dear Harold, I’m not picking anyone. He’s helping me with my… Nick-shaped issues.”

Harry nods and slouches in his seat, his legs knocking into the leg of the table. “Right, right. Carry on, then.” Harry winks at Liam and slides a few dollars across the table to him. "You can give it back to me when I'm right."

It's the expression on Harry's face that sets off the chain of laughter.

All in all it’s a memorable birthday.

*

Liam’s hangover the next day is less worthy of his memory banks. Louis took pity on him “as the birthday boy” and let him have the bed. Liam still wakes to a nude Louis walking around the room and groans in frustration. “Louis! I can see everything, can you put on some clothes?”

“Sorry, Liam,” Louis says from the kitchen area. There isn’t a hint of regret in his voice. “I didn’t get any sleep last night and little Louis is very angry. I tried to get clothes on, but he wasn’t having it.”

Liam rolls over in the bed and groans again, throwing his hand over his eyes. “You can wank off in the shower like everyone else.”

“Like ‘everyone else’? Liam, do you touch yourself in the shower while I’m in the next room?” Liam peeks from between his fingers. Louis looks disgusted at the notion.

“Can’t get through the morning otherwise,” Liam says, not really wanting to play this game. Liam’s whole body wants nothing more than to lay in bed for the rest of the day.

Louis laughs over the kettle he’s preparing. “Too right; I jack one off when you’re in the shower, too. Right where you are now, I would say.”

Liam leaps out of the bed, screaming and shrugging away the blanket that’s touching him, realizing too late that he’s now standing in the room with his own morning wood (impressive even for a hangover) stretching out his boxers. He glances at Louis, who scoffs at the sight of him, before dashing into the bathroom to take care of himself.

“I was only joking, Liam!” Louis calls after him, but he can barely get the words out between his peals of laughter.

*

It takes Liam about an hour to wash away the image of Louis naked, and the idea that he slept in his spunky sheets. Liam’s of two minds as to whether he believes Louis was joking or not, but he scrubs extra hard on every part of his body that mattered.

When Liam is properly washed and dressed, he finds Louis crowding the monitors in their room. Louis hazards a glance at Liam and shuts off the monitor he’s watching.

“What’s up?” Liam says, as Louis barrels past him to the kitchen to dump his cereal bowl in the sink.

“Boring stuff, really. Just in bed.”

Liam frowns. “Quite useful for my notes, then,” he says brightly, pushing the power button on.

Louis makes a noise like a scream and despair died in his throat at the same time. Liam is so startled that he doesn’t register the images when the light spreads across the CRT monitor.

The pixelated images of Sophia and Nick in bed.

Naked.

Having sex.

“Oh my god,” Liam says, and his knees immediately buckle until he’s sitting on the floor, so far down he’s eye level with the desk itself.

“That girl of yours is something,” Louis says, smirking.

Liam’s mood switches from broken-hearted to anger in two seconds and he shoots a glare at Louis. “Don’t talk about Sophia. You don’t even know her.”

“I’m just saying; Nick’s got some moves himself but she’s really keeping up with—“

“How long were you watching them?” Liam says, standing up and banging the power button off. “How much did you see?”

Louis holds up his hands in defeat. “Liam, Liam. Listen. It’s important to remember that she’s not with you anymo—“

Liam stalks over to Louis slowly and Louis’ eyes dance with fear. “I know that, Louis. I’m stuck here with you, innit? How long were you watching them?”

“Not long, Liam,” Louis says. “Geez, I tried to turn it off when you came in.”

“But you would have kept it on? Whilst I was toweling off? What if I wasn’t here? Let me make this clear, Louis… Whatever your last name is, I don’t even know! You don’t turn on that screen unless we both are in the room. You don’t get to see Sophia like that. It’s an invasion of her privacy.”

“Invasion of…! Liam, we’re hacked into the security cameras of her apartment. You spend hours by yourself making notes of her bloody smiles and body language and for God’s… you’ve a chart about her state of undress!”

Liam snarls. “It’s important to my research!”

“Your research? For what? Getting her back? Listen, Liam, the only way that girl is coming back to you is if a wad of Nick’s spunk catapults her across the street into your arms, alright?”

Liam slams his fists on the desk, startling Louis, who backs away. “You know what? Fuck you. Get your stuff out of here. This is my room. I don’t know why I thought this would work. I’ll wire you the rent that you paid.” 

Liam feels like he’s about to cry, and he’s not sure what part of this is more upsetting: what he just spurt out to Louis, losing Sophia, or the betrayal of the few seconds of Sophia and Nick that he can’t unsee.

Louis shakes out of his stupor when Liam’s tears finally do get the better of him and Liam crumples to the floor. “Liam! Liam, listen,” Louis says, scrambling over to his side. “If you really care that much, let’s get her back for you. Forget about my revenge. We’ll just destroy Grimshaw and get Sophia back. You and I, alright?”

Liam grimaces at Louis. He shouldn’t let Louis drag him back in. All he really wants is to mend or have Sophia back. He should be marching around the block and talking to her like an adult. But he can’t face the fact that she might actually be done with him for good. His brain won’t accept that reality. Liam nods.

“Yes, good!” Louis leaps to his feet. “Come on, according to your charts here, we’ve got about an hour before Nick leaves for food or summat.”

Liam wipes his cheeks and stares up at Louis. “And?”

Louis groans. “Liam, you are amazingly daft. We’re gonna make it look like Nick’s cheating.”

*

What Liam likes best about Central Park is how varied its activities are. It’s easy to find any sort of performer or entertainer somewhere inside the multitude of trees. Louis flags down a street organ performer and his monkey sidekick and pays $200 of Nick’s money to have the monkey attack Grimshaw the next time he passes through on his way home. Louis pays the neighborhood kids $20 each to dose Nick with cologne from water guns — which they get to keep afterwards. 

Liam wouldn’t know what to do with 40 water guns if he tried.

Liam sits on a park bench and watches Louis interact with the children by the swings. For someone with a lower maturity level, Louis is extremely suited to dealing with children. It’s almost as if Liam is watching a completely different person. His cheek muscles start to hurt from smiling so much. He rubs at his face as he catches Louis’ eye. “Do you have siblings?”

Louis beams and goes red. “I’ve just always loved children. Got five sisters and a brother.” He drops three drops of an expensive cologne into the last of the guns and ruffles the boy’s hair before the child runs off to hide, as planned.

Liam walks over to where Louis is sat, using his tippy toes to swing himself. “It takes a certain man to wage war on his ex with underage children.”

Louis squeaks at that, as he shoves the cologne bottle back into his duffel bag. “You make it sound wrong when you put it like that.”

“It is wrong.”

“It’s whatever they want it to be. I gave them like forty pounds; if they can’t follow a few simple rules I can’t be upset.”

“Each?” Liam says. “I’d do whatever you wanted for that amount at that age.”

Louis squints in the sun but studies Liam, as if he was waiting for Liam to continue. “Remind me to test this theory later on,” he says and Liam shakes his head.

“So are we just going to wait for Nick to show? Should be walking by in an hour.”

“Do you have anything particular you need to get to? Broadway show? Hot date?”

Liam shifts his weight. “You know I don’t.”

“Can’t wait with a friend for an hour, then?” Louis says, patting the rope next to himself.

Liam tests the rope but decides against it. “Think I’d rather stand, mate.” Liam leans against the nearby water fountain and people-watch with Louis.

This particular playground isn’t much of a hit, but Liam notices most of the kids in the park look nothing like the adults with them. He marvels at the idea of being so busy you have to outsource the caring of your own child. Liam would have never let his children out of his sight and he feels a small twinge in his chest when he notices the change in his mindset.

“You really like this girl,” Louis says after a stretch of quiet. It’s not a question.

Liam frowns down at him. “Th—yeah, yeah. Was planning on marrying her.”

Louis exhales sharply at that. “Got a ring?”

“Week before she was due back home,” Liam says, nodding. It’s not something he wants to think about, but if Louis is asking, it might be useful somehow to his ultimate plan. Liam’s not sure how that logic works, but it feels right.

“Really never understood that. Nick always looked at me like I was a treasure and it felt good. Like a kid at Christmas, his eyes were, you know? And I love Christmas—my birthday’s Christmas Eve—proper fan since the beginning! But I really felt understood and loved when he looked at me. Not to mention his glorious cock—“

“Whoa, let’s indeed not mention that, thanks. There are children about,” Liam says, chuckling nervously as he looks around.

Louis smiles sheepishly and they spend the rest of the hour in silence. When Nick appears at the entrance to the walkaway, Louis’ playground minions jump out and attack him. He shouts in initial alarm and then takes to chasing half of the children around. Liam and Louis watch, confused as the children give him one of the guns and invite Nick in the game of water tag. The kids and Nick chase each other until all the water guns are depleted. Nick throws the gun to the floor and waves goodbye to the children as he continues on his way through the park.

“That actually did not go that bad, considering,” Liam says, surprise rising in his voice.

Louis groans. “Yeah, but they wasted most of the cologne on each other. That was a pretty diluted mixture I made.”

“Well, it’s alright. We’ve still got the monkey, yeah? Where did that man go? He was just over there by the hot dogs.” Liam glances around at the crowds of people in the park.

Louis bolts up, not wanting to believe all of the money he used today went to waste, but breathes easily when he notices the street organ man on the other side of the park. The small crowd listening to the street organ laugh at the man’s story of his rabid monkey. Nick pays no attention to the crowd as he walks right through it, causing the money to leap out on cue, and attack.

Nick is down almost immediately, panicking at the toothpaste smile Louis paid extra for. “Is this monkey rabid? Oh my god, get it off!” Nick screams, and Liam’s surprised any man taller than Louis could hit that pitch.

Louis immediately ducks behind the nearby tree and covers his face behind his oversized shades. Louis convulsing in giggles warms Liam’s heart in a way he wasn’t expecting.

After a few minutes’ battle the street organ man calmly lifts his capuchin off of Nick, who is in a fetal position on the asphalt. “You get that rat away from me! I’ve got to get on to the A&E now, thanks,” Nick says, clambering onto his feet. “Has it got mange? Do you even know anything about its history?” 

The man apologizes to Nick for the prank but Liam’s too far to hear if he gave up Louis’ blackmail tactics. Nick digs out his phone and dusts himself off, stomping directly past Liam, who ducks into the water fountain for cover. The fountain’s dry, but Nick doesn’t seem to notice, too busy screaming at his phone. “No, I’m on my way to St. Luke’s now, I’ll call you when—meet me there, sure.”

Liam watches Nick until he’s turned onto the bustle of the street before collapsing on the rope chain fence and laughing. “My god, the poor animal barely touched him and he’s through the roof!”

“Proper hypochondriac, that,” Louis says between gasps of air. He rubs at his eyes. “But come on, while they’re away, we can sneak in and bug the place.”

Liam sobers up fast and shakes his head. “I don’t think I can, anymore.”

“Liam,” Louis says, standing and shaking grass off of his pants. “Do you want Sophia back or not?”

“I thought I did bu—“

“Does she know that you’re here in America?”

“I haven’t mentioned it becau—“

“Then you need to listen to me. Those two are headed to the hospital. Turn around. Come on. We’re going to Soph’s place.”

*

It’s slightly concerning how quickly it takes Louis to break in. Armed only with a phone, a credit card, and a metal detector instrument that Liam’s not sure how Louis came into possession of, Louis slides through the windows within five minutes. 

Louis rolls into the space first, and then freezes when a bull terrier rounds the corner and charges at him. Liam watches in horror as the dog jumps on Louis, and starts… to lick him.

“Pig, Pig! Enough, Pig. Get down!” Louis yells, and pushes the dog off his body. “Hey, hey, girl, I know, I missed you, too.” Louis’ voice cracks a little. Liam plans not to mention it.

The dog—Pig, Liam assumes—rolls onto its back for Louis to pet, and Liam takes that chance to hop off the fire escape and into the room. Liam is surprised how much the room already smells like Sophia. He picks up a marled sweater he doesn’t recognize from a wicker chair and inhales deeply, coughing as he puts it back down. “That’s not Sophia’s.” He coughs again, still studying the room.

Louis looks over his shoulder at the sweater. “No, it’s not. But it’s a proper cosy one. Nick used to wear it when we watched House of Cards.” He taps Pig’s belly one final time before standing up. “All done, then, Pig. Now excuse me while I add some things to this scene.” Louis leaves Liam to Pig as he surveys the rest of the apartment.

Liam attempts to follow Louis into the hallway but gets stuck at the picture of Sophia and Nick on the computer background. Sophia looks so happy, her face tilted in the way she always does when she’s really feeling photogenic and pretty, her bright smile that Liam loves so much beaming through the frame. Nick’s stood behind her, in a fuzzy and loud sweater, pulling an exaggerated shocked face and from the lean of their bodies Liam can tell the arm not taking the photo was cuddled around her, spooning her. 

In the exact way she always hated Liam to hold her. 

The idea that maybe Nick is just that great of a guy to her, better than Liam in every way _just because_ stabs into his heart. Liam still wants to know why Sophia felt throwing away years of her life for Nick was such an easy choice, but suddenly losing Sophia isn’t that big of a cross to bear.

Louis already knows where everything is, isn’t studying every piece of information. Liam is a dry sponge, needs to know every aspect. He coasts over the DVD collection smirking at the worn edges of the Red Dwarf set. “She brought Red Dwarf with her,” he muses aloud.

“Oh, good,” Louis says from where he’s under the sofa with his tools. “I’m glad that’s not Nick’s. I was certain I wasn’t dating a nerd but you can never tell.”

Liam pushes the DVDs together so they don’t fall off the side of the shelf. “I introduced Sophia to Red Dwarf.”

“Like I said, I wasn’t dating the nerd. Can you pass me that putty thing in the side pocket?” Louis gestures at his bag and Liam lunges for the putty. “This will keep this in place so not even Pig will get at it.”

Liam nods, grateful that his ignorance of Louis’ bugging tactics won’t interfere with the mission. His curiosity of the apartment gets the better of him and he wanders off again, in search of the bathroom.

There’s a large pink hair brush stuffed in the toothbrush cup. It doesn’t belong to Sophia and Liam grins at his reflection in the mirror before grabbing the brush, rising it in the toilet bowl, and chucking it back in the cup. He picks up the toothbrush to do the same, but can’t go through with it. It was a fun thought while it lasted, he shrugs at his reflection. Behind the mirror, in the medicine cabinet, Liam finds all of Sophia’s beauty products and he inhales the bouquet of various perfumes and lotions.

He goes into Nick’s room and digs about in his closet until he finds the loud sweater from Sophia’s computer. It’s snug on Liam, but he gets it on and pleased with himself, goes to find Louis.

“Bastard!” Louis yells from the kitchen.

“What happened, Lou?” Liam says when he finds the kitchen. Louis is perched on the small counter and looking down the drain.

Louis gestures at the sink. “Lost the last bug down there…” 

“Last as in ‘we’re done’ or ‘we’re not complete’?”

Louis glances up to answer Liam and drops the screwdriver, too. It hits the sink with a loud clang just as Louis’ mouth falls open. “Wait… are you wearing…?” Louis climbs off of the counter and shuffles over to Liam. “Oh god, why did you pick tha—“ Louis’ voice hitches in his throat and his eyes start to tear up.

Liam is a little worried about what Louis might do but then his hands are in Liam’s hair and he’s pulling him down into a kiss. Liam stumbles backwards into the hallway again, yanking Louis with him. 

For a scrawny being Louis holds on tightly. Liam’s brain finally catches up and reminds himself that he hasn’t pulled away either. Liam licks into Louis’ mouth and elicits a whimper from Louis that goes straight to Liam’s dick.

This day is full of revelations.

Louis presses against Liam, alternating between kissing Liam’s lips and chin and making small dips to smell the neckline of the sweater until they’ve walked their way back to Sophia’s room and tumbled onto the bed together. Liam wiggles back on the bed and Louis straddles him, ripping the sweater and Liam’s shirt off and flinging it onto a sleeping Pig in the corner of the room.

Pig’s startled growls do nothing to hamper the moment, and Louis rips off his shirt before ducking back down for more kisses. 

Liam’s not even sure what is happening, or what’s gotten into Louis, but the desire pooling in his belly tells him logic will have to wait for later. Whether he ends up hating himself, losing Sophia, losing Louis—none of it matters at the moment while Louis’ lips are soft and taste like weed, and his day’s growth of scruff is fighting Liam’s own beard. 

It takes a moment for Liam to concentrate with the scratchy sound in his ears, but then Louis’s hands are on his crotch and palming his dick. Liam jerks up involuntarily and he catches a glimpse of Louis: eyes heavily lidded and mouth red and wet.

Liam pulls Louis back down into a kiss and flips him over so Liam can rut his hips into Louis’ thigh. Louis undoes Liam’s fly and Liam shakes them off the rest of the way, ignoring Pig sniffing at the base of the bed. Liam reaches down to continue kissing Louis and only breaks away to kiss across Louis’ chest tattoos. Liam’ doesn’t know what they mean and he’s never cared before, but he’s starting to feel like he wants to be the inspiration for the next one.

Louis yanks at Liam’s hair when he finds himself at Louis’ fly. “Not yet,” he says, and it sounds like he says ‘ _Nick_ ’ but Liam can’t be sure. Liam climbs back up to kiss Louis while Louis wiggles out of his jeans, toeing off his shoes at the same time. Liam ruts his hips back into Louis’ thigh and the sensation of body heat sans jeans overloads his senses. “Wait, wait,” Louis breathes, wiggling up and onto the pillows. “Okay,” he confirms, as Liam straddles him again, pulling down his boxers, and letting Louis’ dick free for the first time.

Everything is suddenly real.

Liam’s here in Sophia’s bedroom with another man and Sophia’s nowhere on his mind. In Liam’s defense, Louis’ dick is beautiful and red and leaking and it takes Liam no more than two seconds to decide he wants to suck him off. Louis gasps loudly and then clamps a hand over his mouth at the sensation. Liam works Louis’ cock with his fingers, not really knowing what to do but basing everything on his own interests.

It turns out his hunch is correct, and soon Louis is grasping at anything to ground himself in the moment. Liam pulls off a bit—just to see what Louis does—and sure enough, Louis shoves Liam’s mouth back on his crotch. 

Louis doesn’t last long; Liam only licks along Louis’ slit before deep throating him and letting the vibrations from his chords finish Louis off. Louis curses loudly when he comes, and Liam swallows what he can.

Liam wipes his mouth with his arm and scrambles back up to kiss Louis, but he’s already riding his orgasm into sleep. Liam pokes at Louis, not wanting to ruin the orgasm but uncertain whether this is another of Louis’ pranks. But Louis’ whole body goes limp and motionless so Liam rolls his eyes and takes a moment before heading off to jack off in the bathroom.

It doesn’t take much longer for Liam, either, which is a shame since Louis would use that to his advantage were the roles reversed. When he comes into Nick’s shower—not to his old standby of Sophia in that sheer bralet he loves—but to the image of Louis spread out on the hostel bed, laptop at his side, electric kettle whistling in the background, Liam knows he’s in trouble.

*

Liam cleans up as best he can on his own and collects Louis’ tools from the kitchen. They didn’t finish whatever Louis was trying to do here, but they’re running low on the time before Nick and Sophia return.

They’ll have to discuss what happened when Louis wakes up. Liam, for his part, feels like shit. Like he cheated on Sophia, even though his brain is coming around to the idea that perhaps it’s not meant to be. 

He certainly can’t tell Louis he’s in love with him; Louis is still nursing his wounds from Nick, he’s nowhere in the mindset for a relationship. Especially if he’s in his ex’s house bugging his belongings. And it did sound like Louis was saying Nick’s name through whatever just happened.

But it was Louis who had kissed him and dragged him into the bed.

It makes his head hurt.

Liam sits on Sophia’s wicker chair scratching Pig’s ears while he goes through it. He enjoyed it. He’d do it again. With Louis. Liam was ready for things to go further than they had. What “further things” would include, is a mystery but Liam was so very interested in figuring that out.

Louis stirs in the bed and opens his eyes. “Where am I?” he whispers so quietly that Liam almost doesn’t hear him.

“Get up and put your clothes on, silly,” Liam says softly. “We gotta get out of here.” He chucks Louis’ clothes at him. They land on his stomach and he lets out an “oof”.

“Are we in Nick’s room? Did we…?” Louis bolts up in bed and looks down at his naked body. “Oh my god,” he says with disgust. “Can you pass my clothes so I can look somewhat decent, thanks.”

It’s not the side of Louis Liam expected, but he puts up his hands in defense as he passes Louis’ clothes over in a neat folded pile. “Louis, we can talk about it later. We need to leave. Nick will be home any minute.”

Louis glowers at Liam as he pulls on his pants. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

Liam nods. It hurts, but it’s clear where Louis lies on the issue. “Okay, if you say so. I’ve got your stuff. Were you done with the kitchen…?”

“Was I done with the kitchen?” Louis says, shoving his face into his shirt. “I dunno, Liam, did it look like I was done when the fucking bug fell down the sink?”

Liam shoulders Louis’ bag and opens the bedroom window. “Listen, I’m going back to the hostel. You can follow me or no—“ but then Louis shoves him onto the fire escape and climbs out after him.

Pig watches, her head tilted, from her bed in the corner. Liam gives her a small wave goodbye.

“Yeah, alright,” Louis says. He’s got his jeans on, and his shoes in his hands, but he avoids Liam’s eyes.

Liam climbs down the flights, swings the ladder down, and lands quietly on the pavement. He waits for Louis to drop his shoes at Liam and they walk down the street back to the hostel in silence.

Louis doesn’t say anything until they’re safely back in the hostel. Liam sits down to unloop the clip they were sending the hotel’s security feed and keeps his sight away from Louis.

It’s Louis who breaks the silence.

“Look. What happened wasn’t us.” Louis stares at the floor two inches from Liam’s foot.

Liam turns to Louis, glad to have the silence broken. “I gathered that. After you said—”

“I’m bloody speaking,” Louis snaps, his eyes closing. “It wasn’t about you, and I certainly don’t have feelings for you. So if you’re expecting me to fall for you, it’s not gonna happen. I don’t want anything to do with you besides helping you get back this girl. Got it?”

Liam nods before realizing Louis still has his eyes closed. “Yes,” he says as verbal confirmation. “But I need you t—”

“I’m going to turn on the mic, I just need a moment. You have a moment, yeah?” Louis chucks his shoes to the floor and stumbles into the bathroom.

*

Afterwards, getting Louis to open up about anything, let alone speak, takes extra work on Liam’s part. Louis clams up any time Liam mentions Nick or the bugging equipment—which are amazingly clear for such small microphones, Liam marvels—and any time Liam takes notes from the monitors, Louis studies him from safety of the bed.

It’s a whole different Louis, and after two days Liam decides the tension is too much. He throws on his jacket and spends the day out on the town with his thoughts.

Liam spends an hour oogling brogues at Harry’s Shoes pretending he has anywhere to dress up for, and Staples because they have really nice journals and pens, and PC Richards because the computer section is always hands-on fun even when he’s not thinking of buying anything. 

Liam takes a break from all the walking on the benches in the crosswalk islands, and people-watches, wondering what his life would be like if Sophia was still with him, if he’d never met Louis, if he grew up here, and a number of other factors. 

Liam muses about just giving all this up and going back home. He can always sell the ring. Start again. Find a new girl But suddenly Louis is back in his mind. He giggles at how fucked he is. He came all the way to New York to win back the girl who left him and is now falling in love with a man who hates him. He heads to Starbucks for some soothing tea.

Liam has come to expect long lines. But Nick Grimshaw is at the very tail end of _this_ line. 

Right in front of Liam.

Liam stops at the door and considers how much he _really_ wants that chai, but then a family of five crash into him from behind, pushing him into Nick. “Oh no, my bad, that’s on me,” Liam chuckles and Nick barely registers him before going back to his WhatsApp conversation.

Grimshaw has no reason to recognize him. Liam has no reason to speak up again. However...

If Louis is still stuck on getting revenge on Nick—and what better way to figure out what happened than to hear it from both sides—getting in with Nick can get Liam back on Louis' good side. Right now, losing Louis is all Liam has left. And so he taps Nick on the shoulder.

“Hey. Sorry, mate. I don’t normally do these things, but are you Nick Grimshaw?”

Nick turns a second time, his eyes blinking rapidly as if Liam shook him out of a dream. “Oh, are you a fan? Very nice, very nice.” He glances down at Liam’s hand and grabs it, shaking it vigorously.

“Oh, I am! Loved the last video about your trip to NYC! It’s a weird city, isn’t it? I’m from Wolve—the UK, myself. Very strange,” Liam says, glancing around the Starbucks. “New York, I mean, not home.”

Nick nods. Liam moves one of the mugs on sale slightly to the left. Nick immediately notices and his eyes go wide. “Oh my god, my love does that!” Nick exclaims. “Do you go around fixing your mugs at home, too? Drives me mental, that one.”

Liam can't help but visibly bristle at the word ‘love’ but continues coolly. “I don’t, usually. Picked it up from… somewhere.”

Nick’s pocket starts blasting a retro chiptuned version of “A Pocket Full of Sunshine” and he excuses himself to take the call. “Soph, hey, I’m fine I’m my way home now…”

Suddenly next in line, Liam puts in his order and makes a show of paying for Nick's as well. When Nick finishes ordering he walks over to the waiting area with Liam’s card.

“Nice of you to do that. You didn’t have to, love,” Nick says, touching Liam’s arm. “Hope a skinny latte isn’t too much for your bank!”

Liam smiles and takes the card from Nick. “Listen, I have to go, but us being two Brits in a strange city… if you ever need anything… here’s my card. I’m a marketing intern in London, but I’m always willing to help a fellow Brit.”

Nick takes Liam’s info and a goofy grin spreads across his face. “You’re a proper businessman, mate! I like it! I might have use for someone like you, actually. Like, the reason I’m here in New York is for that YouTube Space, yeah? It’s near the water on the west coast of the city. Google it. Anyway, I’m gonna need a personal assistant to keep up with all the nonsense they have going on. So— when do you go back home? We’ll figure it out. I’ll give you a call? On your mobile, I reckon?” The barista calls Nick’s name and a latte slides over the bar to him.

Liam suddenly remembers he hasn’t used his actual mobile in the States and his voicemail hasn't changed from the one he made with Sophia. “No! Actually, just got a phone just for the States. Here,” he apologizes, scribbling his new number on the card.

Nick laughs. “Oh no! That would have been tragic. Sure this is the right one, then?” He squints at the card. “Alright, I’ll give you a buzz on this. Thanks for saying hi!”

Liam nods his goodbye and takes a different route back to the hostel. Looking at the time, Louis will be fast asleep when Liam gets back.

*

The weather in New York is not that different from London, but Liam feels the change happening as autumn begins. He’s been here too long, and he has no job to return to in London. And time is ticking down at the hostel, as the maximum stay restriction draws near.

YouTube Space is cleaner than Liam expected for a building run by people with no office experience. And Nick, as it turns out, is a decent guy. Or at least he is once Liam learns how he ticks. He spends two days moonlighting Nick before starting a full week of his own.

The C train could be a more positive 30 minutes of his daily routine, but Liam takes it in stride. He buys Starbucks for himself and Nick on his way into his new job, smiles at the janitors switching shifts, collects Nick’s mail at the drop and slides into the studio when the red recording lights shut off.

It's an ideal situation: upwards of fifty hours working to help Nick understand his Twitter stats and trends, and when Liam gets home he doesn’t care about anything but his cot and drifting off to sleep. The contrast of his work relationship with Nick and the silent home life with Louis gets more stark every day.

But after a week, Liam hasn’t made a breakthrough in Sophia and Nick’s relationship, Louis, _or_ Nick. On his commute home he flips through the empty notebook he bought specifically to start work on Louis and Nick and wonders what he's even doing anymore.

*

 

When he gets back to the hostel to talk to Louis, there’s a strange older lady where Louis would be.

“Uh,” Liam says by way of getting her attention. “Sorry, who are you?”

The older lady smiles at him. “Oh, you must be Nick! Louis’ told me so much about you.”

“Nick?” Liam says, glancing around at the room. She could mean some other Nick and Louis but that would be too much of a coincidence. But everything looks the same, so he didn't walk in the wrong room. “I’m not—“

“Nick! Thank goodness you’re home!” Louis bursts from the bathroom in a towel. “Nan, Nick. Nick, Nan. So glad that everyone’s acquainted now! Nick, you said you had somewhere to go, now?” Louis stares at Liam with panic in his eyes, water dripping from his eyebrows.

His eyelashes look stunning wet and clumped together.

Liam shakes his head and plays to Louis' game. “No, actually, nowhere to go, love. Just got in from the office. Is this your Nan? Lovely to meet you, finally!” Liam reaches over to shake her hand and kisses the back of her hand.

Louis glares at him, still dripping onto the floor. Liam can sense he's willing him to leave the room. “Well, we were about to head to bed," Louis finally concedes. "Nan’s got the room down the hall. Tomorrow we’re going for breakfast at Jim’s and then heading to Times Square before her plane.”

“I don’t mind all that, actually. Got the day off tomorrow,” Liam smiles at Louis. “Would be a lovely family day on the town—has your Nan been in America before? Why such a short visit?”

Louis disappears into the bathroom and reappears in shorts, towel wrapped around his head. “I can’t say she has, but it doesn’t quite matter now. Quite late, isn’t it, Nan?”

Louis’ Nan stands up from her chair. She’s not much shorter than Louis as he wraps his arms around her. “Love, I don’t understand your lifestyle but the way you two talk you must be in love.” Louis avoids Liam’s gaze. “Have a good night, don’t do anything naughty—I’m right down the hall, mind.” She kisses Louis on the cheek and Liam leans down for a kiss of his own. Louis bristles as she walks to the door.

“Have a good night, Nan!” Liam says, closing the door behind her. Liam takes a deep breath and turns back to Louis. Now that he's speaking to him—

“You didn’t have to be nice. Thanks for that,” Louis says curtly from the bathroom. “Shut the light when you’re ready. I’m going to bed.” Louis disrobes in the dim nightstand light and gets into bed.

With his hacking skills Louis could easily use the money he stole from Nick to cut ties with Liam and rent another room. Liam smiles to himself. Louis told his nan about Liam.

*

Liam wants to remember the next day forever. He has no idea why Louis’ Nan thinks Nick and Louis are still a couple or why Louis told his Nan that Liam was Nick, but he has fun out on the town with them anyway. He’ll get that info out of Louis later. 

The breakfast at Jim’s Diner is good, as per usual. Liam is disappointed when his favorite waitress isn’t on staff, but on the other hand there aren’t any awkward moments to break the illusion of “Nick & Louis.” 

Louis and his Nan take a picture in Times Square and she gives $10 to each costumed mascot she meets.

Louis’ Nan marvels at the bright lights by Herald Square and shops at the Macy’s for two hours and buys nothing.

They admire the wax figures at Tussaud’s and Louis gets a photo package to send back home with his Nan.

Before she sets off to the airport, the three sit down to rest with Starbucks lattes in a pedestrian park.

“You two look so darling. Here, let me get a picture of you two,” Louis’ Nan says.

Liam looks to Louis and the smaller man fakes a grin as he scoots his chair closer to Liam. “Alright, then,” Louis says. “Can’t get too close, though. Public space and children and that.”

Louis’ Nan tuts at him and focuses her camera at them. “Closer! Nick put your arm around him.”

Liam does as he’s told. He can feel the tension in Louis’ shoulders. “Like this?”

“Give him a kiss.”

Louis grunts and glances around the park. “Don’t think people will take kindly to that, around here.”

“Oh, shut it, you,” she hushes back. “This is the colonies. They’re wild over here for your lot. Kiss him.”

Louis leans into Liam’ face and pulls an exaggerated face, expecting Liam to kiss his cheek. Liam takes the bait and hovers his lips over Louis’ cheek.

“Louis! I’m ashamed at you. Give your Nan a proper love kiss. Don’t be shy.”

Liam decides to be brave. He pulls Louis’ face towards his in a proper, deep, meaningful kiss. He hears the kitschy shutter sound go off and pulls away. Louis is staring at him.

“That’s it! Oh, what a lovely shot,” Louis’ Nan says, looking down at the clunky camera. “Now then, we’re going to be late getting me to the airport if we don’t leave soon.”

Liam hurries to stand and doesn't dare search Louis' face for any sign of emotion.

*

Louis waves his Nan goodbye at the airport and climbs back into the taxi with Liam. Everything had felt so carefree and just like it was when Louis first broke into Liam’s room. But now, without Nan, the silence is deafening. Liam keeps a tally of the YouTubers he spots on the side of MTA buses to keep his mind off the tension.

“My Nan told me she overheard something last night,” Louis says, finally.

Liam straightens up in the seat. He’ll take Louis talking to him about anything. “On the monitors?”

“I didn’t finish bugging specifically, like, but some of the bugs do work, and I sort of left them on while I was in the shower yesterday. Before you got in.”

Liam steels himself for whatever comes next. Was Nick talking about him at home? Was Sophia searching for Liam? He should check in back home; it's been a while since anyone heard from Liam. Three days without contact and his friends assume he's dead. “How are our lovebirds?”

Louis chuckles and looks down at his lap. “Not uh, not too well, actually. They had a row. Nick found some underwear I left behind on purpose, thinks Sophia was having an affair. They broke up.” Louis' gaze goes slightly past Liam's face, as though he wants to look at Liam but isn’t strong enough to hurt his pride.

Liam huffs. Sophia spends her early afternoons at the Sheep’s Meadow. In any case, if he planned it just right tomorrow he could sweep in and have Sophia back.

Except he doesn't want that.

“Now’s your chance, then, yeah?” Louis says, faint amusement in his voice. “I thought you’d want to know that.”

Liam nods and smiles, but it comes across sadder than he meant it. “Thanks, mate. I will.”

*

Nick instructs Liam to sit down, closing the door behind him. “I know something is weighing on your mind. I can sense it. Do you want to talk about it?”

Liam slumps into one of the wooden chairs. It’s sturdy, and nothing like the lumpy chair he's been sleeping in. “It’s not really a situation for work,” he says finally.

Nick leans on the table in front of him. “Oh, come off it, it’s off-hours here, we’re friends, yeah? Listen, you’re a Brit. I’ll tell you a secret. Have you been to the clubs here, yet? We should go, you and I. I don’t know your situation but like, whenever I’m having an off day, or just not feeling it, d’you know what I do? I go to the clubs. Being a Brit here is like being Superman.”

Liam snorts at that. Nick has no idea how much he loves comics, doesn’t know how he spent his last birthday with Nick’s ex yammering on about art in a pub. “Superman? I dunno about that, Nick. Haven’t been able to leap buildings just yet.”

“No, no, I’m serious! Listen: it doesn’t matter if you’re from Leeds or from the London. In America everyone thinks you’re fancy just cos you’re British.”

Liam thinks about it. It’s a good analogy but a little too _Love Actually_. “So where do the super powers come in, then?”

“The super powers! Such a lad, you are. The point I’m making, Liam, is you can pull any bird you want just by talking to them! You can pull every night, different club, different girl, if you wanted. Or boy. I dunno, whatever’s.”

Liam frowns and sits up. “Is that how you got your girl?”

Nick stands back up at that and chuckles nervously. “Actually no. Sophia’s from back home. Where, I don’t remember. Midlands or summat.”

Liam clenches his teeth. “And what if my problem isn’t that I’m lonely?”

Nick playfully taps Liam on the shoulder. “Love, I know what lonely looks like. You’re not lonely. You’re heartbroken. You’ve gotta get her—or him—off your mind. Which is why I say…”

“Clubs. Got it,” Liam says, nodding. “Thanks, mate.”

Nick straightens up and stretches, his fingertips grazing the fancy chandelier. “Anyway, I’m heading out, you coming? Or are we locking you in for the night?”

Liam nods as he collects his stuff on his way out.

“So…” Nick starts after they've walked half a block. “Strictly girls for you, or are you all sorts of bits man?”

Liam grins wide. “Oh, only ladies for me. No offense, I respect your struggle and that, but just… not for me?”

“Why is it that straight people always think we’ll lynch them for being straight?” Nick chuckles. “So you’re boring! It’s not a crime. Although I think it should be. But well, this is why I’m a YouTube personality and not a lawmaker.”

Liam scratches his head. “How are things with the missus, then?”

“Oh, lovely. Proper domestic, us. Cooking, cleaning, got the dog, even. Love it. Probably got dinner in the oven for me right now.”

Liam frowns. This sounds nothing like Sophia. Or the apartment life he's seen, for that matter.

“I’m lying.”

“About…?”

“About everything, Liam!” Nick stops in his tracks, punctuating every word with a stomp. “My life is falling apart! My girlfriend left me, my wallet and passport was stolen last month, and pretty soon I’ll get deported and there goes my global YouTube career.”

Liam blinks. Now _that_ was unexpected. Liam studies their surroundings and maneuvers into the light of a street light. Just in case. Louis had shown him where all the active police cameras were.

“I’m sorry?” Liam offers.

Nick shakes his head and leans his head against a brick building. “No, don’t… you have no reason to be sorry. You’re a good lad, I’m the fuck up.”

“Nick, I think maybe you need some rest, mate. Rest up and we can talk about this tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” Nick hollers. It echoes down the street. “The thing about tomorrow is I have to get through tonight in order to get there!”

Liam frowns. “Mate, you seem perfectly happy at the Space! Where’s this all from?”

Nick rubs his face against the brick and Liam winces. “Liam, I don’t think I can make it through tonight. I’m honestly all alone.”

“You got rid of Pig?” Liam says, realizing too late.

Nick snaps back to attention at the mention. “Pig? How do you know Pig?”

Liam stammers. “Uh, your phone case! I mean you’re always talking about your dog, and I know your lady can’t be named Pig, who you love so much, so, you know, those two… I put those…”

Liam has never been more relieved to hear Nick's laugh. “I do talk about her loads, don’t I. Well, to be fair she’s the only lady who hasn’t let me down. And no, she’s still with me. But hang on, don’t go insinuating that Pig is anything like a human lover. I’m not that sick.”

Liam puts up his hands in mock surrender. “Oh, no, ha, I wouldn’t have meant it that way. Just, dogs are good, in general. For when you’re sad and also away from home.”

“Mmm,” Nick hums. “Well, you’re right about that. Love my dog. Anyway, I'm sorry. Here I'm yelling into the night whilst you are proper lonesome. Let’s hear about your current situation.”

“That’s not anything," Liam says. "Few weeks and it was over before it even started.”

Nick’s disgusted chuckle echoes through the streets. “Oh, sorry, love. Falling in love in a matter of weeks? Guess when you look like you do, who can blame you, mm?”

“Yeah, it’s not the best situation for me, either, actually.”

Nick huddles closer to Liam as they walk, his long arm draped around Liam’s shoulder. “Ooh, were you living at hers?”

“Well, no. Mine, sort of. Renting.”

“Oof,” Nick says. “You’re welcome to stay at mine, no funny stuff. There’s plenty of room and it sounds like we both could use the company. What did the lass do?" He chuckles at the thought before adding, "Another man?”

“Well, for starters ‘she’ was a ‘he’—not, I mean, not trans or any of that, just… a man." Nick's non-reaction washes Liam in relief. "Actually feels quite good to say that out loud to someone!” His eyes crinkle in embarrassment.

"Did you never say it to him? Yeah, that'll do it!" Nick chuckles in his throat. It's a weird sound Liam's only ever heard Nick create. "Trust me, Liam, men want to hear it just as much as the ladies. 'It's not real until you say it' they say." His voice is almost a growl, like he doesn't want the city to know. "Actually sort of how I get rid of them, myself."

Liam stumbles. "You what?"

"I mean, not obviously with my Soph. She's one in a million. End of the Earth and back for that one. But others. That I couldn't be arsed with anymore. Just stop talking to them and they just disappear eventually."

"Nick, that's… really immature."

Nick groans exaggeratedly. "I know, I know! But I was really trying to be someone different with this one. I just… I don't know, Liam.

The light of a motorcycle fills the street and as the bike passes Liam notices the familiar glint of the helmet. The driver flips them bird.

"What was that about?" Nick questions Liam. "Try that with a policeman and he'd be over in a minute."

Liam bursts into a grin. "Nick, actually, I'm gonna grab a taxi. I just remembered I left something at the space. But tomorrow, yeah? At yours?"

"Can't even walk me to the subway and already asking for a second date. I'm kidding, of course, love. I'll see you at work."

*

But when Liam gets home that night, the room looks different.

It is different.

Except for the monitors and bugging equipment they bought together, all of Louis’ stuff is tucked back into his gym bags and his small cross-body satchel. Louis stands in the middle of the space. He looks small.

Liam never noticed just how small Louis was, his personality always overshadowing his physicality. Louis tosses aside his fringe and continues zipping up the last of the bags.

“Going somewhere?” Liam says at last.

Louis reaches for a half-eaten container of chinese noodles. “Thought you’d gone to find Sophia. Should get out of the way if she’s coming this way. Certainly not gonna live with Nicholas, are you?” He dumps a wad of noodles in his mouth and chews.

“I won’t go anywhere if you don’t want me to,” Liam says, and it sounds like a cliche but he wants to give Louis the chance.

Louis blinks but his face is expressionless. “Why wouldn’t I want you to go?" His voice rises at the end of the sentence. "It’s what you’ve been waiting for, yeah? Got your girl back. I mean, Grimshaw’s still doing his thing but that’s not your area.”

“We said we’d do this together. We’ve still got work to do.”

Louis brushes past Liam to the bathroom. “Not you, you don’t.”

Liam searches the room for something to give him leverage with Louis. The Tesla coil is sitting on top of a shopping bag. Liam shoves it under the bed, hoping Louis doesn't hear the coil scraping across the bed frame. His stomach grumbles. “Well. If that's how you feel... I’m headed to Jim’s for dinner, do you want anything?”

Louis walks back into the room with tiny soaps from the bathroom. “You can have my Chinese. I’ve only gotten through the one container. The rest is by the stove.”

“Oh, well, thanks,” Liam says, glancing over to the kitchen counter where there’s a smattering of take away containers. “Listen, about Nick…”

“You don’t have to explain, I know you’ve been working for him. It’s alright.”

“Oh. Well, no. Wait, it’s not that. It’s just… he seems like a great guy. But I know now why you feel used.”

"No. You don't. You can't," Louis says sternly.

"Okay," Liam says calmly. 

Louis stops shoving soaps into pockets and stands up with a sigh.

“Alright. If you really want to know.” He rubs the heels of his hands into his eyes and takes a deep breath. “He makes you feel special. He’s sarcastic and mean and goofy and just 6 feet of lovable. But when you get on his bad side, like, that passion goes two ways. We had a fight; he went to the gossip rags. And, the world I’m from, it’s not kindly on the gay scene. So I lost my job, lost _him_ , and he wouldn’t even speak to me after that. He’s not even gay! He just did that to spite me.” Louis ducks his head to avoid Liam’s gaze. “And I was in love with him.”

Liam’s shoulders slump at that addition. Liam's never had to come out to anyone—his earlier conversation with Nick aside, and wasn't that a sign of how easy-going Nick could seem—but he knows it's not easy. It's even tougher for someone like Louis who's built up walls. And having someone you’re in love with break your heart is tough, but being forcibly outed by someone you're in love with must be excruciating. Liam watches Louis go back into packing, his movements slower but just as determined. “Well, I don’t want that to happen again,” Liam says, finally.

Louis looks up at him and Liam sees a glimmer of hope before Louis' expression goes cool again. “With Sophia? You’re working on borrowed time, yeah?”

The question tells him exactly where Louis’ head is. Liam's mouth closes and his eyes threaten to cry right there. Liam's tired, and frankly, done with hurting. He crosses the room and types something on the keyboard in front of the monitors.

“With Sophia. Right.” Liam refuses to look at Louis. “Right. Well. It’s been nice knowing you, I’m gonna go.” He turns to walk out but the glimmer of shock on Louis’ face as he processes those words is too much for Liam to handle. "Actually, if you don't mind sticking around, there might be a show later on you might want to see. On our favorite channel."

*

Liam is so determined he almost tumbles down the stairs to the street. It'd get him there faster but he's not keen on getting there broken.

A part of him is amused that this trip is a complete reverse of the first time. So much has changed since that first day in New York. He bypasses the bell this time and knocks instead.

"Liam? Did you follow me home? How did you know where I—"

"It's not the time, Grimshaw," Liam says, pushing past Nick and into the living room.

So much has changed since the last time he was in this living room. He stands in perfect view of the cameras he and Louis installed, and glances nervously out of the window. He can't tell if Louis is still in the room. 

"'Grimshaw'?" Nick gasps. "Lad, you burst into my flat so maybe a bit of respect could be warranted, yeah?"

“Is that what you do to all your partners? Lure them into a false sense of security with your money and internet celebrity and then cheat on them with others?” Liam walks toward Nick, hoping he looks more intimidating than he feels.

Nick glances around the apartment and back at Liam. “Wait, sorry, how did we even get here? Weren’t we just chatting on the way home, talking about seeing each other tomorrow…and now we’re fighting?”

“Don’t ignore the question, Grimshaw.” Liam feels like a bull about to charge. “Have you been sleeping around on Sophia? Is that what you did to Louis?”

Nick freezes at the names and Liam thinks he might have overstepped. If Nick murders him tonight at least there will be solid evidence. He glances back at the cameras just to be sure.

When Nick finally speaks it’s low and threatening in a way Liam has never known. “How do you know about Louis?”

Liam is unable to fudge an answer, so he shrugs Nick off. Then, off Nick’s step towards him, “What does it matter? We work for Google, yeah? I looked you up before I started working with you, mate. I know you’re not the great person you pretend to be.”

Nick looks solemn for a moment before his face crumples. “I didn’t mean to break his heart. I was confused and lonely, alright? He’s a better person than me to just walk away the way he did.”

Liam blinks. That apology went too easy and Liam is suddenly suspicious he’s on a Prank vs Prank episode. But Nick isn’t famous enough to be on a Prank vs Prank episode and even then it would be Nick being pranked, not Liam. Liam shivers at the idea of Nick being a double agent for Louis. He wouldn't…

“I guess in my own selfish way I wanted to see how strong his love was,” Nick says, squatting down in the hallway. “That he wasn’t out for drama and scandal. I didn’t think. I didn’t think what it would do to his career or personal life and I ended up losing him. He’s a better man than I am. I did everything wrong and he didn’t deserve it. And on top of that I cut him off from the person he loved.”

Liam walks over to Nick as he rubs his nose all over his tee. “Do you regret it? Are you sorry?”

Nick looks up at Liam. His eyes are red from tears. Liam can only imagine what his own face looks like. He hasn’t been crying but he feels like he might start soon just by how pathetic Nick looks. “Mate, I would give anything to tell him how sorry I am.”

Liam's taken aback at how serious Nick suddenly is, but then Nick gets up and blindsides Liam with a punch to his jaw.

Liam falls backwards onto the sofa at a bad angle and while they don’t feel broken, his ribs will be bruised in the morning. Nick stomps over to Liam before he can get up and yanks his head up by his hair. “What the fuck do you know about Louis?!” Nick’s mouth is only inches from Liam’s face and Liam thinks abstractly about how he came out to Nick just an hour earlier. The thought makes him laughs in Nick’s face and then, because he has no other leverage in this fight, he spits on Nick. It works, and Nick lets go of Liam, stumbling backwards, disgusted and rubbing his face on his tee.

It’s been a _night_ but Liam collects himself and runs out of the apartment while he has the chance, hoping to high heavens that the recording got everything that just happened.

He can't be certain Louis is still there, or if the recording got all the video—or audio, for that matter—or how to get the footage to Louis, or that he will even watch it when he can, but after this hell ride of a summer Liam's glad to have checked _something_ off his list. Considering everyone else that Nick has destroyed in the past, Liam isn’t looking forward to what will happen when Nick gets a hold of him again. Or if Nick doesn’t get a hold of him. Liam thinks of the last time he Googled himself and can’t remember anything incriminating that has popped up. Who knows what sort of power Nick has.

 _I did everything wrong and he didn’t deserve it._ Nick had said. He had loved Louis and had outed him out of dumb love, not spite. He ghosted on Louis out of fear and cowardliness. Liam marvels at the flawed logic even as he takes the stairs two at a time, wincing at his ribs.

Liam stops at the window on the third landing and stares out at the cityscape beyond it. Soon he’ll have to leave New York and go back to his real life with no job and no girlfriend or boyfriend. Liam doesn’t want to think about it. Would rather spend the winter here, get a job somewhere in Midtown, learn to call his family at reasonable hours and live here. With Louis.

Liam can hear the noise of the recording equipment before he opens the door and cringes. Hopefully his fellow boarders were busy sightseeing and being tourists and weren’t around to complain.

Liam doesn’t expect to see Louis when his eyes adjust to the dim light. But there he is, sat on the edge of the bed, watching the monitors. There are tear stains on his face, and his eyes are red. He glances at Liam before he rubs at his eyes, embarrassed. “Couldn't find my Tesla Coil,” he says as explanation, gesturing at the coil next to him on the bed.

“Louis,” Liam says, then stops, unsure of a direction to take. He realizes Louis was probably here the whole time, through the whole fight with Nick. Liam’s cheek still hurts from where Nick punched him. “Have you? Did you? Were you? That Nick?” At another point in their relationship Louis would have burst out in giggles at a tongue-tied Liam.

Louis sniffles and turns back to the monitors. “Dunno if I was here for everything, but I heard what I needed to hear.”

Liam locks the door behind him, finally, then crosses the room to sit in his desk chair. “I did it for you, Louis. That afternoon in that apartment, it wasn’t about us, but it was us.”

“He loved me,” Louis says, and Liam realizes that there are more than two outcomes to this situation. Originally Liam could only imagine life with Louis and life without Louis. But there’s another option, that Louis _actually wants Nick more_ and would go back to him if he could. Liam’s heart stops. “He apologized.”

A lump forms in Liam’s throat. “Do you… do you forgive him?”

It feels like the silence between them drags for hours. Liam is just glad to have Louis back in his space. He leans back in his chair, dreading what Louis will say next.

“I can’t,” Louis says, quietly, still staring at the monitors. Nick isn’t even visible. The microphones are picking up his wailing from some other room. “I loved him but it hurt too much. Every time I see him I just want him to hurt.”

Liam chuckles. “‘Twitching little speck of a person’ right?”

Louis smiles at that, despite himself and huffs out a breath. He looks back at Liam and nods. “Can’t do it. That was all I could ever have hoped for, and it just… it was bloody brilliant but my heart doesn’t want him.”

“No flame in it?” Liam says, feeling better about his prospects. “Feel disappointed, yeah?”

Louis nods, wiping his hands across his face. “I must look a mess.”

Liam doesn't answer that. He's just glad that option is out of the way. He wouldn’t be able to handle that if it were true. He pulls his chair closer to Louis on the bed and grabs Louis’ hands. “Louis, I know you’re avoiding me, but I need you to know I’ve changed.”

Louis sneers at him and pulls his hands away, standing up. “You’re not gay. Just because I fell for Nick doesn’t mean I’m an idiot, Liam. You don’t have to be nice about it.”

“No,” Liam says. He stands up immediately and leaps at the door, thinking Louis is running again. But he doesn’t. Instead he stands there watching Liam block him, unnecessarily. “No, you’re right. Well. I’m not really sure. Guys are alright, but it’s different with you. That afternoon… you said Nick’s name twice,” and off of Louis’ stunned face, “I know.” Liam leans against the table behind him. “The thing is Louis… I saw you on your bike earlier.”

Louis barks a loud laugh that reminds Liam eerily of Niall. “That’s well coming from you! What’ve we been doing this whole summer, yeah? So what if I followed you? And what if I didn’t, huh? New York is bloody large, maybe I was off to Harry's.”

The resurgence of the prickly Louis Liam once knew almost knocks Liam to the ground. Instead Liam pushes back, pointing a finger at Louis and gesturing at the monitors. “What we’ve been doing, all this, that’s different. We’ve been spying on them. You’ve never needed to spy on me. Why were you spying on—“ Liam quiets as it dawns on him. “Wait, you’re not even denying it.”

Louis seems smaller then, backing away towards the window. He focuses on the Tesla coil still on the bed. “I might’ve been there. Maybe I was returning Harry’s stuff. He lives around there.”

“Stop trying to use Harry as an excuse. He doesn’t live there because I’ve met him and unless he moved in the two weeks since I last saw him, he lives on the west side. I still don't know why he's the one with the helmet and no bike, whilst you've got a bike with no helmet but—” Liam grabs the Tesla coil. Louis is not leaving without it and Liam refuses to let Louis leave today. Absently he wraps his arms around it. “You love me, Louis.”

“I do not.”

“You do. And I love you.I didn’t think that was possible, me and men. It's all very strange, these feelings. But I know that since that afternoon I haven’t been able to fix things between us and I couldn’t figure out why I was so down. And then Nick broke up with Sophia and we could’ve had everything but—”

Louis lunges at Liam then, yanking the Tesla coil out of his hands and tossing it on the bed. Liam covers his face expecting more violence but Louis yanks his wrists down. “Fuck this, I love you,” he says before he presses his lips to Liam’s, as soft as the first time.

Liam melts down into the kiss, mashing their bodies together and pulling Louis down onto the bed. They land sideways, Louis already toeing off his Vans and somehow also pulling off Liam’s sneakers. Liam licks into Louis’ mouth and starts to kiss down his jawline, eliciting tiny moans from Louis. Louis rolls his hips over to Liam and Liam pulls and rolls until he’s on top of Louis, pinning Louis’ hips to the bed with his thighs. “Oi, Liam,” Louis whines, wiggling to try to break free.

Liam traces kisses back up to Louis’ lips and doesn’t break away while his hands grab for Louis’ trackies. His hand ghosts over Louis’ crotch and he chuckles into Louis’ mouth when he feels how hard Louis is.

“You try staying calm with… someone like you kissing the way…” Louis tries to defend himself.

Louis’ trackies are off soon after, Liam kissing down Louis’ chest and massaging Louis’ hips as he goes.

“Can you not do—“ Louis gasps. Liam palms himself as he mouths at Louis’ tented underwear. Louis smacks away Liam’s hand. “Hey, hey, enough of that, that’s mine for later, innit.”

Liam beams from ear to ear and works his way back up to Louis’ mouth. The scruff doesn’t bother him this time. Liam thinks he might even have missed the feeling of it on his face as he breaks the kiss to shove Louis’ tank off his small frame, and rip his own shirt off his body. The two items land somewhere in the room. Liam happens to remember the Tesla coil next to them on the bed and quietly leaves Louis on the bed to put it on the desk across from them before climbing back on Louis.

“Missed ya, lad,” Louis flirts when Liam leans back down. This time Liam doesn’t force Louis’ hips into place, instead slotting their legs together. He humps Louis’ thigh for a while, as Louis tries desperately to move his cock into Liam’s leg.

Liam kisses Louis roughly. He feels like he could suck Louis’ life out of him if he wasn’t careful. His arousal is already shorting out his brain and they've barely gotten started.

It feels like Louis reads his mind because he lunges for Liam’s waistband. “Come on, you’re taking forever! I need to see the goods,” Louis says, grinning.

Liam returns the favor and both of them stare shamelessly at their partner’s cocks, red and beading with pre-cum before locking eyes again. Liam ducks down to cover Louis in kisses, then and Louis’ hands find their way to his cock. Liam breathes hotly into Louis’ mouth as Louis slicks Liam up with his own pre-cum and finds a rhythm to match their kiss.

The last time Louis fell asleep before they got to Liam, so just having Louis’ hand on Liam’s cock is like winning the lottery ten times over. Liam digs his arms under Louis and cradles his head like a baby, working his hips to teach Louis the rhythm he likes. Louis keeps up with him, locking eyes with him whenever Liam’s arousal subsides for a moment.

Liam can see the sweat starting to bead on Louis’ face. His own face is burning. Liam reaches down to cup Louis’ dick and grinds the knuckles of Louis’ free hand across his cock. Louis jerks up at the sensation and Liam captures his moan in a kiss again.

Liam can feel his orgasm building and knows he won’t last much longer. He pushes away Louis’ hand to grasp at the base of his dick. “Not yet,” he pants out when Louis looks offended. “Together,” he says, and Louis’ eyes go wide at the implication, rutting up into Liam’s hand when he goes for Louis’ dick.

Liam takes both of them in his one hand and works them together, until Louis is shaking his head yes vigorously and loses his orgasm on Liam’s hands. Liam jacks his hips down towards Louis and comes on his own, spurting hotly over Louis’ stomach, his head buried in Louis’ shoulder as Louis whines at the weight crushing him.

The room is sweltering as they lay next to each other catching their breath. Louis, with his eyes shut and Liam on his side watching the sweat trickle off Louis’ face and into his already matted and damp hair.

“Were you actually cradling me just then?” Louis says finally and Liam bursts into laughter.

“We just jacked each other off after confessing our feelings and the first thing you say is a comment on my performance.”

“It’s a first time, mate, I’m gonna have to fill out a whole comment card.”

Liam sits up on his elbow at that. “No, it’s not. You’re the one who fell asleep before I was finished last time! I should be critiquing you.”

Louis arches an eyebrow at that. “So how was I, then?”

“Amazing,” Liam says, and leans over to press a kiss at the corner of Louis’ mouth.

“As I figured. Now excuse me. I need to go clean off this mess that someone made of me,” Louis says, climbing over Liam and making his way to the bathroom.

Liam uses a tissue from the nightstand to clean himself while he waits for Louis to return. It’s the best ending he could have asked for.


End file.
